FATHER
by Carla Lute
Summary: What if Lucius Malfoy had adopted Harry Potter?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **This story is a collaboration with my friend Imbeni. I wrote it, but we both plotted equally. I borrowed the style of Jim Henson's Storyteller series. This fic is intended to read out loud in a theatric manner, as such grammar is far from proper. Dialogue outside of quotes is summary dialogue. Dialogue in quotes is word for word. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. All characters created by J.K. Rowling are owned by J.K. Rowling. None of us are making any money off this and no infringement is intended.

**Prologue**

Scenario.

What if Lucius Malfoy had adopted Harry Potter?

The first question you might ask is _How could Lucius Malfoy ever be allowed to adopt Harry Potter? _Certainly not with Dumbledore's blessing. You might also ask _Why would Lucius Malfoy want to adopt Harry Potter? _That question is easier to answer.

There had to be a moment of worry, a moment of suspicion, with Narcissa's due date so close to that of the prophesied child. A moment of relief when Draco was born too early to be seen as a threat. Perhaps the smallest moment of empathy.

Beyond that Lucius Malfoy had always been attracted to power. A child who had defeated the Dark Lord, a child whose name would be known and revered throughout the wizarding world, that was a prize worth collecting. If Lord Voldemort returned, Lucius could claim to have the kept the child for him. If the Dark Lord was truly dead, what a political boon for himself, for his own son Draco. The keeper and protector of Harry Potter certainly would earn the respect and admiration of the wizarding world.

But how?

Albus Dumbledore had spirited the child away. Lucius himself was under threat of Azkaban. The trials would take time.

But Lucius was young and handsome, with a beautiful young wife and a new crying child. Rich, generous, respectable, no one wanted to believe Lucius had been involved with kidnappings and murders. No witnesses wanted to come forward against him. A conspiracy of silence kept many friends out of Azkaban. Except that one...that one incident.

_Not by my own will! Never by my own will! Would I never have done such a thing! I was cursed! _Lucius declared on the witness stand. _The Imperius Curse! My deepest regret. My shame. My weakness. _ His fearful tremble was genuine. He was afraid...of Azkaban. He was ashamed...of being caught. His grey eyes sought forgiveness of the crowd. _Cursed, like so many of you. Frightened, like so many of you. My wife, my child..._

And who could convict him then? The conspiracy of friends vouched for his character, and he vouched for theirs. Narcissa's tears shown like diamond drops on her beautiful cheeks. Draco, just one year old, knew even then when to let his lip tremble, to wrap grown hearts around his tiny finger. Who was so cold hearted to deny this young bride her husband? Who so callous as to deny this trembling babe it's father? When there was no proof? No real proof.

Yes, let him have another chance. Lucius was so young, so striking. Let him have another chance.

And freedom was granted. Relief was genuine. Penance was made. Gifts given to sooth wounded hearts. Parties thrown to celebrate the wars end. Second birthday for Draco, everyone's children invited, everyone welcome. Donations made for orphaned children. Orphans...like that poor Harry Potter.

What had become of him? Savior of the wizarding world denied a place in it. Where is he Dumbledore? What gives you the right to hide him away? Safe. So you say, but how safe can he be with Muggles? The Ministry must know. The ministry must investigate!

Dumbledore reassures, but Lucius pushes. What if something happened to you, Albus? We don't deny your wisdom, but you can't deny your age. What happens to Harry Potter then? He has family. He's with family. Good, good. Well enough, but I hear from Severus, the Snape you trust, that he only has one aunt remaining...and she hates wizards. Harry is safe. But how do you know? Surely the Ministry should check. Surely someone should make sure!

Eventually the Aurors are allowed to check, to be reassured that Harry Potter is well.

But what do they find? The small child, only three, maybe four, locked in a cupboard, under fed, resented, neglected. Horrid. How could you, Albus? This can't be the fate of Harry Potter. He can't be left HERE. The Dursleys agree. Take him, take him. Take him, and his world far away from us. We have our own son to care for.

Lucius had friends. Lucius is told. Lucius must see. This scrawny, scarred child, starved for a warm bed and a kind word. Lucius is outraged. Lucius is moved. Dumbledore has failed, and Lucius can offer the boy much better.

A home! A proper wizarding home is what the boy needs! Let him come to my mansion. Let me keep him as my ward. Let him play with my son and be treated like a brother. Yes, the Ministry can observe. They shall guarantee he's well treated.

And who can deny Harry Potter deserves life in a mansion? But adoption? To let him become a Malfoy?

Not full adoption. Let the child keep his name. It's a special name, a powerful name, the child deserves to keep it. Let him be the ward of the Ministry, but let him live in my house, eat the best food, wear the best clothes.

And there is Draco to show them. Healthy, happy, well spoken as a four year old can be. See how tender his mother is with him? See how Draco adores his father? The Malfoys have certainly proved to be good parents.

It shall be tried. Let Lucius make his penance. But we will be watchful, very watchful, everyone shall watch.

Let them, Lucius thinks. Let them.

Harry is uncertain at first. But the bed is soft, the room is his own. There's a playroom, a library, a garden, a yard. The food is good. The kitchen is open to him. He doesn't need to wait for scraps at dinner. There are toys, clothes, books, games. Toys just for him. Games to be shared. Harry doesn't mind sharing. He's happy to play.

Draco is uncertain at first, but mother's affection is all for him. None of his toys are taken. Others are bought for Harry. Now he has a playmate at his beck and call. This isn't so bad.

Narcissa is not unkind but makes it clear. Draco is the son. Harry is the ward. Draco's scraped knee is bandaged by his mother. Harry's scraped knee is tended by the house-elves. But Harry is allowed to sit on Draco's bed during the evening story and no one is cruel.

Lucius sees his wife's bias and takes extra care that his own treatment must be equal. If Draco gets a new toy, so must Harry. If Draco takes French lessons, Harry must take them too. If Draco is invited to the Parkinsons' to play, Harry must be included. When the boys are with him, he's careful to introduce Harry first. "This is my ward, Harry Potter, and this is my son, Draco."

Let no one doubt Harry Potter is treated well in his house.

But, not spoiled, never spoiled. "Stand up straight, Harry. Never forget that a proper wizard holds his head high. Good boy."

"Share, Draco."

"Sit still and listen, both of you."

If Narcissa ruffles Draco's hair, Lucius ruffles Harry's. There can be no doubts. The wizarding world must not doubt that Harry is treated well, just as well as Lucius's own son. That he's protected.

So Lucius shoos away the reporters. Private tutors. Small parties. Harry is not to be gawked at. The right connections. The right introductions. The Parkinsons. The Patils. Crabbe, Goyle, always welcome. Severus, my dear friend, meet my boys.

Harry and Draco are soon fast friends, close as brothers. Draco understands their ward is special. Harry understands Draco is proud to know him. They do everything together. Lessons, brooms, new pets. Harry names the two white peacocks. Draco likes the names. Draco's friends are Harry's friends.

Sometimes Harry forgets and calls Narcissa "Mother". She corrects him.

Sometimes Harry forgets and calls Lucius "Father". He never corrects him.

And what can Dumbledore say? Harry is happy. Well fed. A little proud perhaps but unspoiled, always polite. He clings to Lucius, laughs with Draco, looks hopefully at Narcissa.

But Dumbledore worries. What does Lucius teach Harry? To ride a broom, to be proud of his name, to think of Malfoy manor as his home, to distinguish proper wizarding families from improper ones, to belittle house elves, to understand he is better than Muggle-borns. Yes, Dumbledore worries, but the Ministry is deaf to his concerns. Would he send him back to the Dursleys? No. To the Weasleys? To squeeze in with their crowded brood? They can't afford another mouth.

So Dumbledore must sit on his worries and hope Harry will prove himself at Hogwarts.


	2. Year One

**Author's Note: **This story is a collaboration with my friend Imbeni. I wrote it, but we both plotted equally. I borrowed the style of Jim Henson's Storyteller series. This fic is intended to read out loud in a theatric manner, as such grammar is far from proper. Dialogue outside of quotes is summary dialogue. Dialogue in quotes is word for word. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. All characters created by J.K. Rowling are owned by J.K. Rowling. None of us are making any money off this and no infringement is intended.

* * *

oOo

**Year One**

Big birthday parties this summer. Draco and Harry have both turned eleven.

A trip to Ollivanders for their wands. Draco gets one of hawthorn and unicorn hair before Narcissa takes him across the street for new robes. Harry is left alone with Lucius, trying wand after wand until something most interesting. Holly with a phoenix feather core, the lone brother to the one that had given Harry his scar. Lucius is intrigued, but Harry is frightened. He tries not to show it, but Lucius can tell. Lucius puts a hand on the boy's shoulder to comfort him and stops to get an ice cream.

Yes, the Dark Lord is gone. No, I don't think he's coming back.

A decade of peace has erased that fear, despite the whispered warnings of Albus Dumbledore.

Lucius has done his best to prepare his boys for Hogwarts. All the right lessons. New robes. New cauldrons. Harry must take care to manage his fame. Draco must stick close to him and keep Harry in good company. But no worries, so many friends already to ride with them.

The train is for Hogwarts. There is no talk of Durmstrang. Harry Potter must go to a school under the Ministry's watch. Draco must go with him. Narcissa fusses over Draco on the platform. Lucius straightens Harry's tie. Good luck, boys. Take care of each other.

Harry smiles. Draco laughs. They board the train, and Lucius takes his wife home.

On the train, Draco and Harry are already surrounded by their friends. Pansy, Gregory, Padma, Vincent, Parvati, even Theodore Nott squeezed into a compartment with them. They jostle and laugh. The girls giggle. Harry treats everyone to treats off the trolley.

"We'll all be together surely."

"In Slytherin!"

"Or Ravenclaw!"

"I'd die of shame if I get Hufflepuff."

"Gryffindor wouldn't be terrible."

"Doesn't matter. We're all friends forever."

"Forever!"

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one.1" A girl with big front teeth and even bigger hair invades their sanctuary. "Hang on, you're Harry Potter! I read all about you."

Harry is wary. Lucius warned him of this. "Who are you?" he asks.

"I'm Hermione Granger."

"Never heard of you."

"Well, I'm not famous."

"There's no toads in here," Pansy interrupts coolly. She feels it her personal mission to guard Harry as well.

"I'll help you look," Draco offers. It seems like the gentlemanly thing to do. Besides this girl is something new, and he wants to explore.

"Draco," Harry says with a warning shake of his head. This girl is unknown to him. Unknown family could mean a Muggle-born, and Lucius would not approve.

"I'll be back," Draco promises and leaves Harry surrounded by their friends.

Up and down the train they walk.

"Let's try here," Hermione suggests, indicating a compartment full of red headed boys.

Draco looks wary. "Weasleys," he warns.

Hermione is not intimidated. "Anyone seen a toad?" she repeats.

"There's one." One of the Weasley twins points at Draco. Draco frowns, but Hermione understands his warning now.

"How rude!" she declares, slamming the door. They stalk down the hall.

"Wait! I'll help you look!" a voice calls. The youngest Weasley, glad to escape his brothers jogs after him. "You shouldn't mind Fred. He thinks he's funny."

The three of them look now. Up and down the halls. "You live with Harry Potter, don't you?" the Weasley asks. "I'm Ron, by the way.2"

"He's like my brother," Draco tells them proudly.

"Wow."

A dark closet. "Lumos." Hermione's wand lights, and there, nestled in a boot lies the toad.

"Got it," Ron declares. Back to Neville with their prize.

Relief and gratitude shine on the boy's round face.

"Do you know a lot of spells?" Draco asks. He's intrigued.

Hermione Granger grins at him. Her fantastic hair swishes as she turns to grab her spell book. "I've been reading about them all summer, so glad to finally get a chance to try them out." Draco wants to see. Hermione casts charms. Draco's thoroughly enchanted.

He tries a spell too. Hermione corrects his pronunciation. Draco tries again, and this time the sparks fly.

"Wicked!" Ron declares. Neville nervously suggests they shouldn't be casting spells without a teacher around. Hermione considers this, and they play exploding snap instead.

An hour passes, and the cabin door slides open. "Where have you been?" Harry demands, annoyed that Draco has forgotten him. Pansy is with him, delivering suspicious looks to Draco's new friends.

"Oh, sorry," Draco says. "We found the toad."

"Harry Potter?" Neville breathes.

Harry rolls his eyes. "Come on."

With a shrug Draco follows him back to the compartment where their friends are waiting, but Draco is restless now. He knows these people too well, and new connections beckon to him. But Harry is his best friend, so he stays. He tries to tell Harry about the spells, but Harry is not as impressed as Draco might hope.

"I've never heard her family name before," Harry cautions. "You know what that could mean."

"You don't know everything?"

"She could be a mudblood," Harry whispers, trying to make Draco understand. "Father wouldn't like it. He told us to be careful."

"I don't care," Draco declares bravely. "If that's a mudblood, they're brilliant."

Harry worries for his brother now. Draco is given to flights of fancy, and this one could get him in trouble.

But the train has stopped. The boats take them to the castle and now it's time for sorting. Crabbe and Goyle into Slytherin. Granger's turn. Draco's expecting Ravenclaw, but no, Gryffindor! And Neville, Gryffindor too. Draco takes his place on the stool. Hermione smiles at him. He closes his eyes and hopes.

Gryffindor!

Harry's heart sinks. He's a parselmouth. No place but Slytherin for a Parselmouth. How many other friends will leave him? But not all is lost. Theodore goes to Slytherin. Pansy goes to Slytherin. Padma to Gryffindor and Parvati to Ravenclaw, but at least they all escaped Hufflepuff. Harry's turn. He sits on the stool and hopes. For Slytherin, for friends, for Father's-for Lucius's house, for Narcissa's approval, and in he gets. Slytherin!

Dumbledore watches, brow furrowed thoughtfully.

Harry's scar burns, but only for a moment. Pansy asks what's wrong? Nothing, Harry assures her.

Draco's delighted and disappointed. But it'll be okay, he assures Harry. We're still brothers.

To the dorms. Harry to Slytherin. Draco to Gryffindor.

Harry's far from lonely, but he misses Draco sharply. His near brother has a new best friend, a girl, a Muggle-born. Harry tries to reason with him. Father won't like it! But Draco doesn't care. She's the shooting star as far as the teachers are concerned, and Draco's always been attracted to the shiniest thing in the room.

Harry finds some comfort with Snape, who has been almost like an uncle to him and Draco. Harry wasn't sure Severus had liked him at first, but Lucius had insisted Snape give Harry a chance. Time had allowed them to grow close. Snape was a frequent guest at the manor. To Harry's dismay, he wouldn't help with Draco's problem. "It's natural for Draco to make friends with his housemates."

Draco isn't Harry's only worry. His scar has been hurting. This scares him a little, though he can't say why. Sometimes it does. Most of the time it doesn't.

He wants to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team, but Marcus Flint won't let him. "No first years on my team, but you can be the mascot." Harry fumes at this. Lucius had practiced with him and Draco every weekend. He thinks he at least deserves a chance. He bugs Marcus about it. "Let me try. Let me try." Until the older boy agrees to let him train with the team. "But only as a back up." Harry has to be satisfied with this.

Prospects seem bleak for the Gryffindor team. No good seekers are trying out. Draco and Ron have gone to watch Ron's brothers, but the students trying out are hopeless. This one can't catch a quaffle, much less a snitch. That one can't stay on their broom. First years never make house teams, but Draco feels he has to try. And he does. And he makes it.

Draco can't believe it. Harry can't believe it. Lucius can't believe it. Narcissa's not surprised. Lucius must come to Draco's first game.

So Draco gloats; for once, he's more special than Harry. Harry glowers. How can Draco waste his time with Weasleys and mudbloods? For the first time, the boys aren't all laughter and best friends. They're glares and cold shoulders. Uncle Snape reminds them that they're the closest they have to brothers, warns them that he's uneasy about Professor Quirrelll. Asks them to note anything strange.

Excitement at Halloween, a troll in the dungeons. Harry trots obediently down to the Slytherin common room, Pansy clinging on his arm. He passes Professor Quirrell, and his scar burns. But maybe he imagines it?

He tells Draco. Draco's still too mad to care. Harry just wants attention.

But it's Gryffindor's first game. Draco gets the attention. Youngest seeker in a century3. Draco doesn't get the snitch, but it doesn't matter, not much.

Classes, exams, burning scar, and back on the train again. Time for Christmas. Harry and Draco back home at the manor. Dinner. Narcissa has missed her son. How is school, Draco? Do you like your classes, Draco?

How is Quidditch, Draco? Lucius asks.

Harry feels the first burn of jealousy. "Draco's a blood traitor!" he declares.

Lucius gives Harry a stern look. Narcissa scowls. "What's that?"

"He's made friends with a mudblood."

"Don't call her that!" Draco snaps. His parents' worst fears confirmed.

"And a Weasley!"

Draco, really? Draco, you can do better. Draco, you know better.

"Ron's cool, and she's brilliant!"

"Draco, I forbid you to speak to that girl again."

Narcissa winces. Draco boils. He runs upstairs to his room. Narcissa shakes her head. Could Lucius have done anything worse than forbid him?

What else could I do? Lucius asks. Draco will see reason. He puts a hand on Harry's shoulder, thankful for the warning. Narcissa goes to sooth her son.

And how has your school year been, Harry? Favorite classes? Any trouble?

My scar, Harry confides. It burns sometimes.

Lucius feels a cold prickle down his back and must know more. Where does this happen? When does this happen? He listens. Bit by bit, pieces fall into place. This teacher, Quirrell, something not right about him. Even Snape suspects him.

Lucius must know if something is threatening his ward. He writes Dumbledore, writes the other governors. Quirrell is out.

Oh, happy Christmas! Harry is all safe and new socks. Draco is all sulks, but mother does her best to cheer him.

Back on the train, to Hogwarts again. Harry is hopeful. Friends to greet him. Maybe his brother will be sensible now? But no, five minutes out of the station, and Draco's off to find Hermione, still boiling from being forbidden.

Harry gives up. After a few weeks, the boil cools. Draco and Harry remember they're best of friends, and a truce is formed.

Harry doesn't know that Dumbledore had discovered Quirrell's secret. He doesn't know that Voldemort fled Dumbledore and left Quirrell to die from his leaving.

No, for Harry it's a fairly normal school year.

oOo

* * *

**1,2,3** are quotes or near quotes from the book/film.


	3. Year Two

**Author's Note: **This story is a collaboration with my friend Imbeni. I wrote it, but we both plotted equally. I borrowed the style of Jim Henson's Storyteller series. This fic is intended to read out loud in a theatric manner, as such grammar is far from proper. Dialogue outside of quotes is summary dialogue. Dialogue in quotes is word for word. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. All characters created by J.K. Rowling are owned by J.K. Rowling. None of us are making any money off this and no infringement is intended.

* * *

oOo

**Year Two**

Lucius has a problem now. His half-blood ward, Harry Potter, is proving a more dutiful son than his actual son, Draco. Both boys are home for the summer.

"Hermione says this whole blood purity thing is ridiculous," Draco tells them at dinner. "Hermione says if we only married purebloods, we'd all go insane from inbreeding."

Lucius squirms and rebukes, but nothing seems to get through his son's head. Draco's all a flutter with new ideas.

Harry looks appropriately scandalized. Narcissa shushes her son, which only works for a little while.

Lucius threatens his pocket money. Draco doesn't care. Lucius threatens Durmstrang. Narcissa says, don't you dare. Lucius considers canceling Draco's birthday party, but Narcissa encourages the approach of honey over vinegar.

Make the party extra grand, she whispers. Invite girls, lots of girl, pretty girls, pureblood girls.

Draco wants to invite Hermione.

No, never!

Draco wants to invite Ron and Neville. Harry scoffs, but Narcissa intervenes on their behalf. No, no, pureblood Gryffindors are fine. It's natural for Draco to make friends in his own house. Invite Ron's sister too. She'll be starting Hogwarts in September.

So the party plans are made, twice as grand as last year. Neville's gran won't let him come, but Ron's mother comes with him and brings Ginny. Little Ginny with the delicate face, sleek red hair, and spunky spark in her eyes. Narcissa sees a future beauty and longs to collect her like Lucius collected Harry. How she's wanted a daughter. Narcissa fusses over Ginny, plays with her hair, while Molly Weasley watches with tight lips.

Draco comes to greet Ron, and Narcissa releases her new found gem to flash under Draco's nose. Be a gentleman, Draco. Dance with little Ginny. Draco has no interest in red hair and freckles beyond friendship, but he does as his mother asks.

He dances with Pansy and Daphne, even Millicent, but only as a courtesy. Harry catches on and tries to help. Dance with Ginny, Draco. Bet she'll be a Gryffindor. Get Ginny something to eat, Draco. Show Ginny the game, Draco. Draco knows what they're doing, but he tries to help Ginny enjoy the party anyway. It's an excuse to stay close to Ron too.

No success. Draco learns to quiet his crush, but he stills asks if they can invite Hermione to Harry's party.

No.

But Harry's party must be as big and as grand, must include as many pureblood girls. Narcissa pulls Harry aside. Conspires with him. They tried too hard last time. They must try a different tactic. Invite the Ron and Ginny again as Draco wants. But this time, Harry, you dance with Ginny. Feign an attraction. Draco may show more interest if he thinks she's off limits.

Harry agrees.

Ginny comes again, but now, when Draco tries to speak with her, Harry whisks her away. If Draco offers to dance with her, Harry cuts in. Draco is curious but not concerned. Everyone sees, and Ginny's popularity has been cemented. Ron is befuddled. Harry is glad to be in Narcissa's confidence.

Draco is unaffected.

Lucius needs to make this Hermione go away. He plots and plots until he remembers something that may help. A plan forms; a diary is retrieved from safe keeping. It seems worth a try.

He takes the boys to Diagon Alley for school supplies. This proves fortuitous. The Granger girl is there. Draco practically skips to greet her. "Father, this is Hermione," he crows. Bushy hair, wires on her teeth, arms loaded with books, Lucius can't begin to understand his son's attachment.

He takes the top books from her arms to examine them. Aside from the school texts, she's carrying books that would intimidate full grown wizards. What could a Muggle-born child need with such things? "You're a rather plain looking girl," Lucius tells her, and Draco's face falls. He had been hoping his father would be won over like he was. But no luck.

Lucius drops the tomes back into the girl's arms along with his own addition. The girl's parents walk up from behind her. Lucius is repulsed by their extreme Muggleness and turns away.

Draco is gushing apologies, and Hermione is shrugging them off and introducing. "Draco, these are my parents."

"Draco!" Lucius calls, ordering his son to his side.

They join Harry and Narcissa inside the shop. Draco sighing. Lucius doing his best to ignore him.

Everything bought, Harry wants a new broom for Quidditch, so Draco must have one too. Back home they go. A few more weeks before the boys are gone again to Hogwarts. Harry wants to practice Quidditch. They test out the new brooms, and everything seems right.

The boys return to Hogwarts. Harry to Slytherin, soon the new Seeker. Draco to Gryffindor. Still friends with Ron and Neville, still spending many swotty hours studying with Hermione. Father can't complain about his grades.

Shortly after their return, Hermione shows Draco a new curiosity. "I found this book in with my others. I thought maybe mum had picked it up for me, but when I wrote in it, it wrote back."

Curious, Draco experiments with writing his own sentence. The ink swims and vanishes. A reply swims up. "Very curious," says Draco. "Might be dangerous. Let's show it to Professor Snape." Being a clever girl, Hermione agrees, and they show the diary to Snape. Snape in turn shows the diary to Dumbledore, and Dumbledore being far cleverer than anyone promptly destroys it.

A week or so later, the diary already forgotten, Draco asks Hermione. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Hermione says, "Okay." And that's the end of it.

Snape, his eye still on the Dark Arts position, exposes Lockhart for the fraud he is and sends him packing.

For Harry, however, it was a rather normal year, filled with nothing more exciting than Quidditch matches.


	4. Year Three

**Author's Note: **This story is a collaboration with my friend Imbeni. I wrote it, but we both plotted equally. I borrowed the style of Jim Henson's Storyteller series. This fic is intended to read out loud in a theatric manner, as such grammar is far from proper. Dialogue outside of quotes is summary dialogue. Dialogue in quotes is word for word. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. All characters created by J.K. Rowling are owned by J.K. Rowling. None of us are making any money off this and no infringement is intended.

* * *

oOo

**Year Three**

DURMSTRANG! Lucius declares.

NEVER! Narcissa protests.

The argument rages, while Draco and Harry huddle together upstairs. They've never heard them argue before. Disagree on occasion, but never with raised voices and threats and accusations. Never with so much anger and shouting.

"This is all your fault," they accuse one another.

"My fault?"

"If you hadn't started dating the mudblood-!"

"If you hadn't told-!"

"They would have found out anyway."

WE'LL SEND HIM TO DURMSTRANG!

Never Durmstrang! Draco can't speak Bulgarian or Russian or whatever they speak in that frozen hell hole...

Narcissa is steadfast. Lucius reconsiders. Beaubatons, then? His French is beautiful.

NO!

But back to those Gryffindors?

Why not? We went to Hogwarts. Harry comes from Gryffindors. Would you send Harry away?

I couldn't!

Then you can't send my Draco!

He's my son too!

And so it rolls back and forth. Draco tries to send Hermione letters, but the house-elves have been told to stop the owls. Hermione writes letters to Draco, but Lucius makes sure they're into the fire. Lucius writes back once, forging Draco's hand.

_Dear Hermione,_

_You're ugly. I hate you. Go away, and such..._

Between the arguments, they try another grand birthday party for Draco. Ginny's invited, a little taller, a little prettier. Narcissa so wants Draco to notice her or Pansy or any of the other girls. But Draco's all sighs for Hermione. Why hasn't she written? Why won't she write?

Harry and Narcissa plot together. Perhaps the crowd is too distracting. Invite Ginny and Ron over between the parties, just like Pansy and Gregory and Vincent are often over. And Draco and Ginny, being very similar creatures, do become fast friends. But unknown to Harry and Narcissa, Ginny is Draco's secret ally. Hermione is her friend too. Too many boys are after Ginny for her to consider stealing a friend's. Even Harry Potter seems to be after Ginny.

Pansy is after Harry Potter. She's thirteen now, and hormones have turned girlish hopes to rage and jealousies. Why Ginny? Why not me? I was your friend first! To keep the peace, Harry lets her in on the plot. Oh, a plot? A plan! Ginny is intended for Draco. Pansy likes this. She'll help most willingly, anything to help Harry Potter.

But before she can help, Ron and Ginny's parents win a prize and off to Egypt they go, names in the paper, picture on the front page! Even Ron's rat Scabbers gets to go.

But happy news is soon over shadowed. Sirius Black the mass murderer has escaped Azkaban and all reports say he has vowed to kill Harry. Lucius remembers young, hot-headed Sirius, the black sheep of the Blacks. Snape has told all about him, clever and cruel, even as a youth. This is the man who betrayed Harry's parents, who killed his friend Peter Pettigrew, all for Lord Voldemort. And this mad man is after Harry. Lucius fears for his ward. The grand party is cancelled. No more visitors. Harry MUST be protected.

Dumbledore protests, but the dementors are sent to guard Hogwarts.

Lucius's worry is infectious. The danger is real. Draco almost forgets Hermione. Narcissa fusses over Harry like she's his mother too. They're allies now, and Harry knows he should be worried but secretly basking in the affection. How long he's wanted Mother to love him too.

The train again. The tightest hugs are given before the boys can be let go. "Draco, watch out for Harry. Stay safe, both of you." No trips to Hogsmeade, not until Black is captured.

Draco won't leave Harry's side, not even to look for Hermione. Pansy clings to them. They find a car with a sleeping man, certainly a professor, certainly for Defense Against the Dark Arts. This will be the safest place. Are you sure he's a professor? Look at his robes. Maybe he's just gotten back from a real adventure unlike that froufy fraud from last year.

The train rumbles on. Crabbe and Goyle stop by but only long enough to say hello, the sleeping professor has stretched across the seats and left no room for them. Draco wonders about Hermione, but Harry needs him now. They're nearly to Hogwarts before she passes in the hall. She stares through the glass at Draco with a sniff and a sad eye.

Harry's forgotten. Draco's out in the hall. What's wrong?

That awful letter!

Which letter? How was it awful? Before the confusion can be sorted, the train jerks, the lights are out, and they're clinging to each other. Back in the car, wake the professor! What's going on? Everything is so dark. A feeling of cold is creeping in. There are sounds, like people are boarding. Could it be Black? Is he after Harry?

"Quiet!" the professor silences them. Fire in his hand lights the compartment. A dark creature cloaked in black opens the door. It draws a breath and with it all happiness seems to leave them.

Harry falls to the floor. Pansy screams. The professor fires a spell and the dark creature is chased away.

"Harry? Harry? What did it do him? Are you all right?"

Harry comes round to the image of Draco hovering over him clutching his mudblood girlfriend. Pansy is on the floor too, holding Harry and shivering. They settle back onto seats and the professor gives them chocolate. "I heard someone scream," says Harry.

"That was just Pansy," Draco assures him.

The professor insists they eat the chocolate, identifies the creature as a dementor, and leaves to have a word with the driver. Pansy continues to cling to Harry, and he's too rattled to push her off. He watches in morbid fascination, as Draco uses the adventure to smooth things over with Hermione and procure a first kiss.

He's relieved to arrive at Hogwarts but frightened too. Sirius Black seems far away, but these dementors that are supposed to be guarding him are circling the school. Still a good feast and a kind word from Snape help calm him. Back in Slytherin House, he's surrounded by friends all eager to hear about his adventure, all vowing to protect him.

No silly divination classes for Harry. Lucius insists on Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Pansy convinces Harry to take Care of Magical creatures too. She's very interested in unicorns. Draco's trying to juggle twelve classes like Hermione, swots. Watching them whisper and conspire together across the Great Hall reminds Harry of his mission for Narcissa, but it seems hopeless.

Gryffindors and Slytherins have potions together. To Harry's delight Draco settles into a seat beside him instead of Neville or Ron like he has the last two years. To his dismay Granger sits on Draco's other side. He resents sharing a table with a Muggleborn, but at least it's easy to copy her and Draco on tricky assignments, get a little whispered advice when needed.

There's no brother beside him in Defense class when Lupin introduces the boggart. Harry is nervous, but Lupin doesn't even let him face it. Harry's worried Lupin thinks he's a coward, so Harry makes jokes about the state of Lupin's robes. Draco laughs, but Granger scowls.

Lucius's ban from Hogsmeade doesn't seem unfair until Harry watches the other students leave. He hopes Draco will spend the day with him, but no, Draco has too much homework from all those classes. He's having trouble keeping up with Hermione and needs the time to study.

So drop Muggle Studies, Harry advises. Father doesn't like you taking it anyway.

Father will like it if I get twelve Os, Draco insists, and off he goes to the library.

Harry sulks and skulks about the school. Lupin finds him and offers to show him some new creature. Harry's not used to being alone and accepts. The talk turns to boggarts and Voldemort. No, Harry's not afraid of him. "Father assured me the Dark Lord's long gone."

Lupin looks upset. "Your _father_?"

Harry flushes. He knows Lucius isn't really his father, but he's good as, isn't he? Lupin sighs and settles into a history lesson. "What have you been told about your real parents?"

James and Lily Potter. Voldemort killed them. James was wealthy, and Lily was talented. They had left Harry a vault, though Lucius hadn't let him touch it. "He says I can have the key when I come of age, until then it's his job to provide for me."

Inside Lupin is all splutters and rages, but outside he is all thoughtful consideration. He must admit Lucius has not lied to Harry, but the gaps in the narrative are wide and demand filling. It pains him to hear James and Lily reduced to a bank vault. "They were my friends," he tells Harry. "James was my best friend." Harry is listening.

And Lupin weaves a tail of school chums and midnight mischief, dancing a careful waltz around the names of Lucius Malfoy and Sirius Black. Harry doesn't need tails of death and betrayal. He needs to know that he has Lily's eyes and James' nose. He needs to know that they were brave and good. He needs to know...

Snape interrupts with a knock and a potion. You had best drink it soon, Lupin. Please come with me, Harry. A whispered warning, Lupin is not to be trusted, please Harry, go back to your dorm.

And Harry goes, but there's a stirring in him now. He wants to speak to Lupin again, warning or no. He wants to hear more stories.

So Harry goes back again and again to Lupin's office. Each time a new story, a new memory. Propelled not so much by longing but curiosity. And Snape sees this and worries.

Draco and Hermione worry about Lupin as well. He falls ill so often. They've played with charts and time tables and noted the phases of the moon. And no, could it be? Lupin a werewolf?

The portrait of the fat lady is torn to shreds, and Peeves says Sirius Black. But what could Black want in Gryffindor tower? Harry is down in Slytherin. They suspect other claws. But who to tell? Professor Snape of course. What do you think, sir?

A smile, a laugh. Clever children, but yes, we know. Dumbledore knows. But the fat lady says Black as well, a potion keeps Lupin in check. I have promised silence, but we must be watchful. Be safe. So Draco and Hermione keep silent too, but Harry, so close and unsuspecting. Oh, they must warn Harry.

Harry is warned (again), but rather than worry, he's intrigued. A werewolf? Really? How interesting. Is it true, Lupin?

And Lupin can not lie, so the truth is out. And Harry promises to keep the secret and is rewarded with a new and more exciting set of stories about Animagus and moonlight transformations.

Draco worries for his brother. So much time alone with a werewolf can't be healthy. It can't be safe. But there seems no dissuading him. Harry has a hunger now, a hunger for the past.

Pansy is now all smiles and friendliness for Ginny. Harry has gotten distracted by stories, but she has not forgotten the plot. She watches the mudblood and plans a plan.

Lupin has his own plan. Harry must be told, must be broken from Malfoy's influence, but when? How?

An opportunity. Harry comes to him all trembling after the Quidditch match. Dementors again. Draco forgoes the snitch to catch Harry this time, so there are no broken bones or bungled healing spells. But still in Harry's head, a woman screaming, a nightmare or a memory? He must know.

A memory, I'm afraid. And I'm afraid for you, Harry. Lord Voldemort had no mercy for Muggle-borns, and Lucius Malfoy...

Harry recoils. His mother? A Muggle-born? Impossible. Lucius would have told him! It can't be true. Out he runs, away from Lupin, back to his brother. You were right about Lupin! I was wrong. What he said about my mother! It must be a lie! He's a monster! A half-breed!

But Draco sees an opportunity. Would it be so awful? he asks Harry. Would it really be so bad?

And now, Harry backs away from Draco too. Feeling betrayed and belittled. He cast an angry glare at the Granger girl who he's sure has poisoned his brother against him. Back to Pansy, who tries to console him. Back to plots and plans and Slytherins. Whispers of poisons and curses but knowing his brother would never forgive him, and angry as he is, Harry can't risk that.

Draco and Hermione take a break from homework to study genealogy charts, to find Harry's answers. It's true, but they need proof. They copy articles and school records, search the archives for photographs, and compile a scrapbook. They are done. They present to Harry, all their evidence bound up in it's own book, official, undeniable, in black and white.

This book is not the kind stories told by Lupin. This is a record of war, murder, and betrayal by close friends. This is Harry's true history, and it bites and stings Harry like only the truth can do. And Harry feels ashamed and angry and confused.

And Draco! Draco won't even come home for Christmas. He cares more for his classes than for Harry! Harry's sure now that Draco isn't really his brother and understands why Narcissa couldn't love him. And his heart breaks when he thinks of Lucius. He doesn't know how he will face him.

But he knows he must. So he rides the train, surrounded by others but totally alone. And when Lucius comes to greet him at the station, Harry shies away from his touch. How can he trust it? How can he trust anything?

They go home in silence. They eat dinner in silence. The manor is so quiet without Draco.

And Lucius knows something is wrong, but no inkling of what. So he waits for Harry to speak.

And after dinner, Narcissa goes to bed, and the silence is too much for Harry. He confronts Lucius with the evidence of his history. Why didn't you tell me? How could you not tell me? I don't understand!

And Lucius looks at Harry's trembling lips and sees the sadness in his green eyes, and Lucius's heart breaks for him. It doesn't matter, Harry. None of this matters. Come sit by me. Understand. You are like a son to me. I love you just as much as Draco.

And Harry is crying now from anger and relief, and Lucius puts an arm around him. Forgive me? I was trying to protect you, but it doesn't matter now. None of this matters. I'm so proud of you, Harry.

But how can you? I'm not a pureblood.

It doesn't matter, Lucius says, and is a little surprised to look in his own heart and know something has changed, and it really doesn't matter. Nothing matters, except that Harry is crying and needs comfort. You can't choose your parents, but we chose you. I knew all this, and I still chose you. You are a wizard, and you are remarkable. So you see, it never mattered.

Harry sniffs and tears are wiped away, and green eyes are shining with relief and gratitude. Fears are put away, hopes are reborn, and he would do anything for Lucius now, anything.

Draco remembers to get his head out of his books and into the fireplace long enough to floo a Merry Christmas. But for once, Harry gets more for Christmas than Draco. For once Lucius allows favoritism to show. And Draco doesn't care, swot, but Harry is full to bursting of family and belonging. And Narcissa is quiet thoughts, but doesn't seem to blame him.

Harry is determined to win her affection too, so he heads back to Hogwarts, determined to rescue his brother from the mudblood's spell.

I have the perfect plan, Pansy tells him. And no one will get hurt. All we need is to sew a seed of doubt and watch it grow. A love potion. A love potion? For Draco? No, for Granger. But just a little, just a pinch, the lowest dose. They're too clever. Anything stronger would be too easily spotted. But who to use? Who best to make the divide deep and lasting?

A close friend, says Pansy. The closer the better. But neither wants Granger after Harry, no it must be a Gryffindor. Ron or Neville? Ron's taller. Ron's the athlete. Ron who's been over to the house a hundred time. Oh yes, that would sting the most. We need hairs but how to get them? Easily, Pansy plays her part. She flirts with the confused Weasley, gets close enough to pluck a few hairs and returns to Harry with her prize.

Chocolates are made. The potion is brewed. Once again Draco's hand is forged. A little magic to place them at Granger's bedside. Then Harry and Pansy sit back to watch and wait.

At first, nothing seems to happen, but it's Valentine's Day, so Hermione is not surprised by the chocolates. Draco sent flowers too. She takes a bite, and even though Draco sent her flowers and chocolates, she finds her eyes keep turning to Ron. She finds herself preferring red hair to blonde. She finds herself with a wistful smile, and she can't help it and doesn't know where it's coming from.

And Draco asks her what's wrong, and she can't tell him. He's loyal and good and sent her flowers, and she can't break his heart. So she sits beside Draco and watches Ron, and Draco can't help but notice. But the next day, the feeling is gone, and she dismisses it. She holds hands and kisses his forehead and thanks him for the flowers. And Draco tries to be reassured.

But a few days later, she eats another chocolate. And oh, there it is again. This quiet longing for longer arms and an easy smile. Ron's jokes are funnier. An accidental brush of hands during a study session sends a thrill down her, but she can't act on it. She's Draco's girl, and Ron's his true friend. And the next day, she's glad she didn't, because the feeling is gone again.

And Draco knows her too well. He sees hands brush and dread grows in his heart. He wants to trust Ron. He wants to trust Hermione, but how can he ignore her wistful smile? How can ignore her evasiveness when he asks if something is wrong? His heart is sick with it, but what can he do when he only has suspicions?

And a third time, a third chocolate, and Hermione can't take it anymore. And Draco can't take it anymore. There's an accusation and a tear and a confession. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I don't know why I feel this way. But please believe me, I haven't done anything. Ron hasn't encouraged it. I don't know maybe it's hormones. Hormones? My parents say that's normal for our age, but it comes and goes. And I don't want to break up, because tomorrow it may be gone again. And you're so sweet. Ron never sends me flowers or chocolates.

I never sent you chocolates.

A realization. For a moment Ron is accused, but he's more surprised than they are and soon past suspicion. Who? Who? Who would want to cause trouble between them?

Isn't it obvious? says Ginny.

Oh, and it is. And oh, Draco has never been this angry. Never so betrayed. And Hermione has never been so angry. She'd been helping Harry in potions and thought they were past this. Ron feels used. Ginny and Neville are indignant on principle. Should they tell Snape? There's no proof Harry and Pansy were behind it. No a lesson. They will teach them a sound lesson, but how?

And now the Gryffindors make their own plots and plans. Let them think it worked, Ginny suggests. Yes, let's give them exactly what they think they wanted. And it's agreed. But there must be a punch line. Remember the boggart? Oh, yes, the boggart. But how to find a boggart?

Lupin has done that part for them, though they don't know yet. Harry has decided to give the werewolf another chance. He knows Lupin only meant to be kind to him. Lupin is happy to have him back, eager to teach him to ward off dementors. He wants to protect Harry just as much as Lucius does. And Harry tries and tries until he conjures a Patronus. And when he does, he can't help but brag to Draco. And Draco listens as Harry tell him about the stag that leapt from his wand and the boggart in the trunk in Lupin's office, and Draco smiles.

They stage an argument. Hermione clings to Ron's arm and sets her cauldron up beside the Weasley. Draco pretends to cry and rage. You were right, Harry. You can't trust a mudblood. You can't trust a Weasley! I hate them both. I want you to help me now. Help me get revenge!

Revenge? Harry hadn't planned on revenge. He expects some tears and sighs but not this rage. Pansy's game. She and Draco talk poisons and curses and dark magic, and Harry feels a growing dread. He had wanted to please Narcissa, but he had never wanted to hurt anyone. He tries to cool Draco's rage. Just forget about it. She's not worth it.

No, if you're really my best friend, you'll help me teach her lesson. I'm a Malfoy. No one treats a Malfoy this way. And Harry's stomach twists in knots. This change in Draco frightens him. He wanted his brother back and now he's afraid of losing him again. This time to darkness.

He doesn't know the Gryffindors have stolen the trunk from Lupin's office. He doesn't know his brother is springing the trap on him rather than Hermione.

Neville told me they're going down to the Forbidden Forest, Draco whispers to them at dinner. Now, we must go now and take our revenge on them! Harry doesn't know that Neville is waiting for them in the forest with a trunk and boggart and a good scare. He doesn't know Ron and Hermione are in on the plot. All he knows is that his brother is planning to curse the girl he used to love, and he knows this won't go well for anyone.

Ginny! Help me, Ginny! Distract Draco and Pansy for a few minutes. He doesn't know Ginny is in on the plot, and Ginny doesn't tell him. But she does stop Draco and Pansy for a few minutes. Harry runs ahead, out to the grounds. He sees Ron and Hermione walking hand in hand, he thinks innocently, towards the dark Forest. Scabbers is in Ron's free hand, recently returned to him by Hagrid. Crookshanks prowling behind. A black dog watches from the forest.

But Harry doesn't notice the animals. His only thought is warning Ron and Hermione before Draco and Pansy see them.

Wait! Granger! Weasley! Stop!

Ron and Hermione exchange disappointed looks, they haven't made it to the forest and Neville and the trunk yet. But Harry doesn't notice. He grabs their shoulders and whispers an urgent warning. "You need to get out of here. Draco's gone a little mad, and Pansy's helping him. But it'll go too far if he catches you here. Please, please, just go back in the castle where it's safe. He won't act where the teachers can see."

And Ron and Hermione are grins and giggles. Harry Potter is _warning _them. They're not cruel. If the lesson can be learned without the boggart, all the better. Harry has little time to ponder their laughter. A low growl is coming from the forest. Scabbers bites, Crookshanks chases, Ron runs and Hermione after him. Harry hears a growl and see a shadow, and he runs too. The rat is caught, but now the shadow has teeth, the shadow has legs! The shadow has Ron!

It takes him, grabs him, drags him. Ron is crying out in pain and fear. Hermione is desperately trying to give chase and find the right spell. Harry runs to help them. They may not be friends, but he's not thinking about that. He's not even thinking of Sirius Black. He's thinking of werewolves and full moons and fearing for Ron's fate and Lupin's.

Harry's faster than Hermione. He overtakes her as Ron is pulled down to the roots of a great tree. "Look out!" Hermione shouts. She grabs his robes from behind and pulls him clear of a heavy bough that pommels the ground where he would have stood. They roll away from the deadly branches. She tackles him to the ground to avoid the murderous tree's swing at his head. For a second she's on top of him, heavy, soft, and panting. She scrambles up, and he too. Quick! Get out of reach! Trembling, both of them, with relief for their narrow escape, with fear for Ron. Crookshanks presses a knot and the tree is frozen. Granger cries, "Come on! Quickly!"

Her order is not just for him. Draco and Pansy have caught up now. They saw the scene from afar as they left the castle. Pranks and curses forgotten in the face of real danger, they give chase. Down through the roots, down through the tunnel.

Meanwhile Neville has been waiting in the forest. He doesn't know what's taking so long, but his friends are late. He's alone and the sky is growing darker. He hears a cry and abandons the trunk. He runs towards the castle, but he can see no one. Something is wrong.

Meanwhile Ginny can't hold in the joke any longer. She tell her brothers Fred and George. Hurry, come see, we're teaching Harry Potter a lesson. They're in the entry hall when Neville runs in to meet them. Something's wrong! They didn't come to the forest! I don't know where they are! I thought I heard a scream.

No worries, say the twins. Out comes the map. There, there, dots disappearing through the Whomping Willow passage. Why would they leave the school? It's dark, dementors, Sirius Black still on the loose, and Harry ran out alone!

Lupin is attracted to the noise and worried faces. "Sirius Black?"

Neville and the Weasleys are running out the door, down to the Whomping Willow. They're blocked by the tree, but Lupin has followed and knows the secret knot. He warns the children back, but they won't go back. There's no time to argue. Harry may be in danger. So down the passage they go.

Harry, Hermione, Draco and Pansy emerge into a dusty shack. Drops of blood on the floor and trails in the dust. Follow it, wands out, up the stairs, into a room, quiet now, hearts racing. Harry motions for Pansy to wait in the hall, and she's happy to do it.

Ron on the bed. Alive but leg mangled. Hermione runs to him. Harry looks for Lupin, but it's another man he spots with a murderous gleam in his eye. "Expelliarmus!"

And two wands fly, Harry's Draco's, but Hermione has hers and around she snaps "Expelliarmus!" And Black's trying to catch the boys wands and loses his own. And Draco throws himself at the mad man's feet, and Harry scrambles to pick up the wands, and Black is knocked to the ground. He reaches for Draco, but Harry and Hermione have wands on him now.

"Draco, get back!"

"Wait!" Black cries. "The story! The whole story! Harry, you must hear!"

The four young wizards have their wands now, and Black none, so cautious, they listen. "Hold the rat!" he warns, and begins to weave a tale of secret keepers swapped, friends betrayed, and a traitor, Peter Pettigrew who fakes his death and hides as a rat. "Scabbers?" Yes, Scabbers. And as he speaks the rat is struggling harder, but the children are skeptical.

Out in the hall, Pansy hears a noise and creeps back down the stairs to see. She find Professor Lupin and the Weasleys, waves them upstairs with Neville trailing behind. "In there!" she points. And Lupin enters with a small army behind him to find Harry all right and Black subdued.

"Good work, children!"

"Wait! Remus, the rat! The rat! It's Peter!"

"Hand him over, Ron. A quick test. Let us see."

And soon, not a rat but a man before them. And no escape for him. Both are bound, Sirius and Peter. Let's take them back. Let the ministry sort this out. But Remus is already looking at Sirius Black with new eyes. Down the stairs, back to the tunnel, and who is coming through it now but Snape wand out and aimed at the werewolf.

"Wait, sir! Wait!" Draco and Harry both before him, urging caution, urging calm. Snape sees Black bound and Pettigrew too. His blood is hot, but Lily's eyes and Pettigrew back from the dead gives him pause.

"Lupin, you forgot your potion. Perhaps you had best stay behind."

"Ah, yes, right you are, Severus." So Lupin stays in the shack and back they march to the castle with their prisoners. Too many wands on Pettigrew for him to escape now, and Sirius happy as dog to be caught, long as Peter's caught too. Back to the castle. Dumbledore to greet them. The ministry summoned. The truth sorted out.

Ron to the hospital wing for a mending. Peter Pettigrew off to Azkaban. And Sirius Black, an innocent man and free!

Not only free, but Harry's godfather. Free now to embrace the boy and embrace his old friend Lupin. And Harry seems happy to know him.

Yet Sirius, he worries. He knows Lucius Malfoy. He knows Lucius Malfoy never needed an Imperius Curse to follow Lord Voldemort. He remembers a Lucius that was cold and cruel. Sirius has no doubts that Lucius was capable of kidnap and murder. He's been fearing for Harry since he heard the Malfoys had taken him in.

But here's Harry healthy and whole, and he won't hear a word against his 'Father'. "You're wrong about him, Sirius."

"Please, Harry. Have you been mistreated in any way?"

"No, I haven't."

But Sirius isn't sure he believes him. He knows how Lucius Malfoy can threaten. "Harry, I'm your godfather. If you'd like, you can come live with me. Lily and James would have wanted it that way. I can keep you safe."

Harry is once again intimidated. The thought of being taken away from hearth and home frightens him. "Seriously, Sirius, I'm fine. I like living with the Malfoys. Lucius is kind to me."

And what can Sirius say to this? "Harry, I am your godfather. It's my responsibility-" but how can he go on now that Harry's eyes, so like Lily's, are looking at him with fear? How can he press with Harry, his face so like James, as he pulls away from him?

Sirius would fight Lucius Malfoy for Harry. He would fight the Ministry, fight the legal system, fight Voldemort himself...but he can't fight Harry for Harry. There's no winning that battle. So down he backs. There'll be no custody war. But Harry is welcome at his house at any time, any time. If Harry needs _anything_ at all, he can always come to him.

So Harry has finally had an adventure, but all is right, all is well. And he no longer minds Hermione, she saved his life, and that'll win anyone over. No more plots and plans, no more threat of death. Harry can finish out the year in peace. Everything back to normal.

oOo


	5. Year Four

**Author's Note: **This story is a collaboration with my friend Imbeni. I wrote it, but we both plotted equally. I borrowed the style of Jim Henson's Storyteller series. This fic is intended to read out loud in a theatric manner, as such grammar is far from proper. Dialogue outside of quotes is summary dialogue. Dialogue in quotes is word for word. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. All characters created by J.K. Rowling are owned by J.K. Rowling. None of us are making any money off this and no infringement is intended.

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oOo

**Year Four**

Deep in the dark woods of Albania, the Dark Lord lurks among the shadows. But he has no servant to bring him back home. His loyal servants are all in Azkaban. There's not even a frightened rat for him to control. So he must wait with his dark plots and dark plans, he must wait.

Lucius is trapped now, at the mercy of an old enemy. He has no thoughts for phantom lords in Albania. It is Sirius Black who threatens his family now, not as a murderer or mad man but as Harry's godfather. The will of Lily and James was clear; Sirius was their chosen guardian for Harry. Sirius has the stronger legal claim on the boy, and Lucius is at his mercy.

Harry likes having a godfather, particularly one that can turn into a dog, but he doesn't want a new home. He likes his room and his yard and the garden and the library and the white peacocks, and he likes having his brother close. They're best friends again and full of exciting stories. But Sirius wants him for a week or two, and Lucius dare not refuse. But he worries. What will Black tell Harry? Twelve years in Azkaban could warp the kindest mind and clearest conscience, and Black had never been the kindest man. Harry a Slytherin, and Snape says Black had no love for Slytherins.

And Lucius wants to tell his worries to the Ministry, but they're too embarrassed about imprisoning the wrong man. The papers paint Sirius Black as a martyr, a tragic, romantic figure. And this worries at Lucius too. He raised his boys to behave as gentlemen, to never hit girls, to always open doors, to observe the etiquettes of courtship. He wants them to be as well matched as he is with Narcissa. While he still cringes and shudders at the thought of his son with that Muggle-born, he must admire his consistency. But Black had a reputation of cycling through girls like socks, and Lucius knows Harry's fame could make that a temptation. Yes, Lucius worries what Black will teach him.

Narcissa sooths and smiles. Give him two weeks, she says. Birthday weeks. Let Sirius throw the parties. Let him pay the expense, let him invite the guests, let him meet Harry's friends. Let Draco go too if Sirius will have him. Don't forget, my love, the man is my cousin. Let the papers think we are all open arms and families reunited. It will go easier for us, easier for the boys if we do.

The plan is proposed, and Harry jumps at it. He is intrigued by his godfather, but the thought of a week alone in that Black house with this near-stranger had worried him too. Better to have his brother with him. Draco is game. He's had his fill of big parties, and he's curious to see London. Sirius agrees because Harry wants it.

To Grimmauld Place they go. Next to Malfoy Manor it's small and dark, littered with remnants of dark magic, out for all to see rather than hidden away like it ought to be. Sirius hates it, but he's glad to have Harry there. He's not so sure about Draco, but still, Lucius' son a Gryffindor and James' son a Slytherin, a good joke on them both.

The three of them make war on the house, cleaning out drawers and fighting boggarts and doxies, sweeping dead puffskeins out from under the sofa, and tossing cursed dressing gowns into the bin. Draco wins Sirius over by removing the portion of the wall to which the portrait of his mother was permanently stuck. Harry is allowed to keep the shiny gold locket he found with an S in green stones. "For Slytherin," he says.

Sirius doesn't care, so he let's Harry pick the new wall colors and soon finds himself in a green house. "Cheery spring green at least." He's happy now to host Draco's party, but Draco doesn't want a big birthday, just Neville and Hermione, and Ron and Ginny too, and a night in Muggle London. But Gran still won't let Neville come, and Ron doesn't trust Sirius. The girls can make it though and that suits Draco and Harry just fine.

Sirius has no problem with faking IDs, and Draco drags them into a karaoke bar. While he and Ginny take the stage, Draco singing well and Ginny badly, Harry and Hermione huddle with a highly amused Sirius in the safety of their booth. Harry coughs from the smell of smoke while Hermione resists Draco's attempts to get her to sing. No, no, a thousand times no. At length, Sirius indulges in a rock anthem, before they head out for Indian food and a movie.

They return to the Malfoy manor in high spirits and a mutual agreement not tell Father and Mother about the bar. Lucius is relieved to have them back. Sirius is sated. There'll be no battle for Harry, just as long as he gets them on Harry's birthday too. And Harry's birthday is in Diagon Alley, with ice cream, Pansy, Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle, the Patils, Blaise Zabini, Neville's invited (and finally allowed to come). Yes, Draco, Hermione can come too. And Ginny of course, Ron would rather stay home.

Not to be out done, Lucius takes the boys to the World Cup, the Minister's Box, and a handshake with Viktor Krum after the game. Juicy gossip, a tournament at Hogwarts this year and a dance. Dress robes must be bought. A dancing instructor is hired. It has certainly been an exciting summer.

Back to school and everything's fine, except Hermione now has a bee in her bonnet about house-elves. Draco, who normally drinks in her every word, is slow to swallow this one. Everyone's distracted by the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament and the arrival of Mad-Eye Moody.

With Voldemort still in Alabania and Bertha Jorkins safely back from her vacation and Barty Crouch Junior still Imperiused in his father's kitchen, there's no one to slip Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. So three students chosen from three schools, Cedric, Fleur, Krum, and Harry free to watch with the rest of the audience.

Moody gives Draco a little trouble, but only at first and soon leaves him be. The greatest plight our heroes face is who to ask to the Yule Ball. Ron hasn't taken his eyes off Fleur Delacour since term started, so Draco encourages him. "Go on, ask her. What harm can it do?" And Ron's nervous, so Draco coaches him. He's had a girlfriend since second year, and seems to be the expert on these things. Ron gives it a shot, and Fleur laughs but not unkindly. "I have zee date already", but since he's so polite and his blue eyes so hopeful, "I vill zave vu a dance, no?"

Oh YES! Ron couldn't be happier. Neville's quite brave enough to ask Ginny without coaching, though Draco makes sure he can dance properly. He almost forgets to ask Hermione. It's just assumed right? But Krum does, and Draco's horrified, but Hermione tells him she's already got someone and that is that. Harry takes Pansy, because it's easier than not taking her.

Everyone stays over Christmas. Time for the party. Time to get dressed. Merlin, Ron, you can't dance with a Champion in those robes!

It's all I got. Mum, couldn't afford...

Nevermind, switch robes with me. A few quick spells to make them fit. Now Ron's in black velvet with a high collar. Draco's in high fashion for the eighteen-nineties. Hm...Hermione deserves better than frayed sleeves. A quick trip to the library, some subtle transfiguration to brighten the lace, mend the fray, an adjustment to the color. Perfect. He's determined to bring this back in style.

Hermione meets him with a periwinkle blue dress and a magically perfect smile. She's decided she's done with her braces. She doesn't mind Draco in lace, and despite the giggles, none of the other girls do either.

Harry's in green with Pansy on his arm, but his eyes keep getting drawn to his flamboyant brother and the girl in blue. Draco looks so happy, the robes having gained him attention (Draco loves nothing more than attention), and Harry can finally see what he sees in Hermione. But he wouldn't dream of cutting in for a dance. No one would like it. Not Draco. Not Hermione. Not Pansy. And most of all, not Lucius.

So Harry nurses and hides a budding crush on his best friend's girl, while Cedric wins the Triwizard tournament. But otherwise, Harry has a normal year.

oOo


	6. Year Five

**Author's Note: **This story is a collaboration with my friend Imbeni. I wrote it, but we both plotted equally. I borrowed the style of Jim Henson's Storyteller series. This fic is intended to read out loud in a theatric manner, as such grammar is far from proper. Dialogue outside of quotes is summary dialogue. Dialogue in quotes is word for word. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. All characters created by J.K. Rowling are owned by J.K. Rowling. None of us are making any money off this and no infringement is intended.

* * *

oOo

**Year Five**

Another summer, another two weeks with Sirius, another half-hearted attempt to distract Draco from the Muggle-born, but they're out of threats and almost resigned to it now. Lucius and Narcissa must hope he'll out grow it somehow. They don't know Harry's guiltily thinking of her too. Draco's only thinking about making up for a years worth of missed Quidditch practices. He wants Ron and Ginny over at every chance to practice with them. He talks his father into letting him visit the Burrow, so they can practice with the twins too.

Happy news. Draco and Harry both prefects. Lucius could not be prouder. Hermione and Pansy prefects too. Narcissa sighs, at least she's intelligent.

Back at school, fourteen and fifteen have given way to fifteen and sixteen. And held hands and butter beers have given way to kisses and cuddles. And Harry Potter thinks Draco Malfoy kisses Hermione Granger only to torment him. His insides are all claws and chasms. But he can do nothing but endure it.

Pansy still hangs on his arm, and Lucius approves of her, so Harry lets her. She's been a loyal friend at least. He tries to look at her the way Draco looks at Hermione, but he can't. Pansy tries too hard, giggles too much, and when he talks to her he feels he may as well be talking to himself. She never disagrees with him, which makes conversations easy but boring. Still appearances must be preserved; Lucius taught him that.

Dumbledore has been running out of people willing to risk teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the Minister suggests Dolores Umbridge. She is tried. Professor Umbridge believes in a theoretical approach. But...we won't be doing magic? It's our O.W.L. year! How will we pass? Theory, Umbridge insists, to understand the theory is to understand the spell.

Uncle Snape, what do we do? Can't you get her out? Can't you expose her? But what can Snape do? There is no tension between the Minister and the Headmaster. Umbridge is strict and unreasonable, but she simpers over Harry. She dare not give Lucius Malfoy's son trouble. So she crosses no lines, breaks no rules. Unfortunately, Hogwarts allows professors a free hand with teaching their subjects.

A club maybe? A defense club? No, better a dueling club! Would you supervise, sir? Of course.

The club is established, despite much humphing and 'hem, hem's from Umbridge. Everyone wants in. Snape is happy as anyone has ever seen him. Dumbledore watches with curiosity. He's still contemplating diaries and wondering if Sirius will break Lucius's hold over Harry.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team gains another Weasley. Ron's the new keeper. Ginny made a good showing at the try outs, but more experienced players win out, so she's sitting in the stands at games with Neville and is far happier about this than she lets on.

Harry snags the snitch from Hufflepuff. Draco loses it to Ravenclaw but gets a consolation kiss, so Harry still feels like he lost. He can work out some frustrations in the dueling club. There at least he's doing well, though Hermione is learning spells faster and disarming him too easily.

He comes home at Christmas full of grumblings about Draco's uppity girlfriend, and Lucius is sympathetic. But Narcissa listens to him complain and complain about Hermione and hears something Lucius misses. She must hide her smile. When Harry goes up to his room, she follows, all full of sympathy. " Have you fallen for her too, Harry?" And Harry's sniffs and confessions, glad Narcissa can read his thoughts, yet ashamed too. He doesn't want to start another round of arguments over Durmstrang

Narcissa consoles and coddles. "Harry, darling, it's quite natural for you. Your mother was Muggle-born. Perhaps Lucius and I have been too harsh, but you must understand how we were raised. The pressures were put on us that we put on Draco. The Malfoys have always been expected to marry well, keep the blood pure, but the Potters married for love and you're half-blood already. And maybe that's better." Oh, Narcissa's words are as sweet as honey. "I'm not sure Draco really loves the girl. He's just been in your shadow so long and wanted attention. And bless Lucius, he certainly got it. But if you love her, Harry, really love her, you _must _tell her."

Harry's surprised, but feeling less guilt and more gratitude. "But Draco?"

"He'll whine and cry and thoroughly enjoy the drama," sooths Narcissa. "But the girl can't choose unless you offer her a choice. Otherwise she may be with my son, because he's the only one to show an interest. And how empty that would be."

While Narcissa is upstairs schooling Harry on courtship to save her own son from an undesirable match, Draco is downstairs freeing the house-elves. Watching Sirius abuse Kreacher has convinced him of Hermione's cause, and now that's he's convinced her to change S.P.E.W. to S.E.E. he's happy to wear a badge.

But the house-elves don't want freeing. What did we do? Where will we go? Oh the SHAME! The dishonor! All, except for Dobby, who's all skips and bounces and disbelief and gratitude.

"You're free to stay," says Draco, trying to console the sobbing elves. "No one has to know you've been freed. If you want to work, you're free to do that too. I'd be delighted to have you stay. You've been doing an excellent job. Keep up the good work." And at length, the sobs fade away and the elves get back to work.

Later in the week, Lucius notices new tea towels and that Dobby is missing and asks an elf about it. Free to lie, the elf tell him Dobby is dead, sir, and Lucius shrugs and finishes his tea.

Back to Hogwarts, Harry with a plan and Draco with words for Hermione. Harry is encouraged to overhear a bit of their first fight. And the next day, he presents Hermione with flowers. Hermione is confused, Draco is enraged, and Pansy is dumbstruck.

Alliances and friendships crumble, gossip explodes, everyone has an opinion. How dare he? That's so romantic. I wish Harry Potter would send _me_ flowers. What's wrong with her? Who'd stay with _Malfoy_ when they could have _Potter_? I would. Do you think she's cheating? Is he cheating? Don't they live together? I thought they were bothers. And Pansy can't reason with Harry, so she's spreading poison about Hermione. You realize what kind of girl she is? I think she brewed a love potion. Only explanation, she's not that pretty. What a greedy, viscous girl, wanting both!

But Hermione's wanting none of it.

Between twelve class and Quidditch and defending his girlfriend and trying to keep his girlfriend and hating his brother, Draco's coiled tight and ready to snap. And Harry's never been rejected before, so he doesn't know what to do when Hermione says no. And Narcissa's letters urge him to keep trying, so he does, though he rather bungles through it.

Finally in Dueling Club one day the tension boils over and curses fly. It's the best Snape can do to rush the other children out of the room. Hermione tries to stop them. This is getting dangerous. A stray curse, and it's hard to tell who threw it, bounces off an old shield and hits her, and Draco screams as though it hit him, and Harry stops cold.

Ron and Neville rush her to the hospital wing, while Snape the reams the boys over the coals. They've never seen him this angry. Draco doesn't hear him, but Harry feels every word like a punch to his gut. Lucius is called, and he can't understand what's happened to his boys. Draco's inconsolable until he's allowed to attend Hermione's bedside and there he's sobs and apologies. Harry retreats so far inside himself that Lucius can't reach him and all he will say is that he didn't mean to. And Ginny and Pansy won't talk to either of them.

There's talk of suspensions and expulsions, but no one really wants that, so it's settled with detentions and bans from Quidditch.

Hermione recovers after a fortnight, angry at having missed two weeks of classes. But Draco's so tearful and pitiful she has to forgive him. As long as this nonsense stops! Harry apologizes by avoiding her and his ex-brother-friend. He can't avoid Pansy, so he gives her the gold locket with the green S for her birthday and all is forgiven.

Ginny takes over as seeker. Blaise gets a turn on the Slytherin team. Gryffindor wins for a change.

Things are cold between Gryffindor and Slytherin now. But exams demand more attention than hurt feelings.

And as heartache and disappointment at fifteen being a rather normal experience, even for a wizard, Harry did indeed have a normal year.

oOo


	7. Year Six

**Author's Note: **This story is a collaboration with my friend Imbeni. I wrote it, but we both plotted equally. I borrowed the style of Jim Henson's Storyteller series. This fic is intended to read out loud in a theatric manner, as such grammar is far from proper. Dialogue outside of quotes is summary dialogue. Dialogue in quotes is word for word. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. All characters created by J.K. Rowling are owned by J.K. Rowling. None of us are making any money off this and no infringement is intended.

**A Warning:** Just like the canon, year six takes a dark dip. This will not be a normal year.

* * *

oOo

**Year Six**

This will not be a normal year. Draco and Harry are still glaring daggers and can't speak without shouting. Lucius alternates sending Harry to Sirius and Draco to the Weasleys to keep them from killing each other. Neville Longbottom's finally allowed a party of his own and given a wand of his own, and Draco skips Harry's party to go to Neville's. Ginny skips Harry's party to go to Neville's, as does Ron and Hermione, though Ron stopped coming ages ago and Hermione wasn't really invited anyway.

Narcissa and Lucius try to comfort both boys in turn. Draco's put out because he got Es and an A and only four Os, and Hermione got two Es and ten Os. Harry isn't too bothered about his marks as long as he passed, but he doesn't seem to care about anything now and that worries Lucius. Lucius can't fix this with ice cream and Quidditch, and he doesn't know this happens to parents with teenagers. He doesn't know there are bigger things to worry about.

Bertha Jorkins has returned to Albania and gotten herself lost in the forest. This is a problem for everyone, a big problem. The phantom shadow of the Dark Lord has been waiting for this opportunity.

Dumbledore has made a mistake and grabbed a cursed ring. He's dying now, a master of death, and he still doesn't know if he can trust Harry Potter. There's nothing else to do, the boy's scar has been twinging again. Someone must be told, Harry must be told, before there's no one left to tell him.

So a week after the boy is back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore calls him to his office, and tells him everything (almost). He tells him of Dark Lords and prophecies and horcruxes. He can't afford to coddle and spare feelings with time so short. Harry, who never in his life had to face anything scarier than his godfather, is now told he must kill or be killed by the most powerful dark wizard in memory, the one who killed his parents, and he's _terrified_.

He runs back to his brother, broken hearts and tirades forgotten. He needs help! He's going to die if Draco doesn't help him! Draco's skeptical at first, but he sees the fear in Harry's eyes is genuine and knows he must help his brother. He and Hermione give up Muggle Studies and Divination, so they can study horcruxes. They'll help Harry if he promises to leave Hermione alone, and he's quick to promise. He returns to the Slytherin dorm, shaken, and Pansy has the story out of him before he remembers it's supposed to be a secret. But she wants to help, anything for Harry, so it's just as well.

Hermione and Draco need to have a talk. Her parents are concerned. She's been dating the same boy since she was twelve, and they think she's rather young to be settled. And she's thought about it, and maybe it would be better if they tried dating other people for a while. And Draco doesn't understand.

Did I do something?

No, no, it's not that. It's just something I think would be good for us.

What did I do? I'm really sorry about the dueling club. I am.

It's not that.

Tell me what I did, then. Please, I'm very sorry, whatever it was.

Draco, this isn't about you.

How is splitting up with me _not_ about me?

Hermione sighs and tries to explain again. Draco still doesn't understand. But for once, sulks and tears and pleas don't move her.

Ginny and Neville don't understand either. They'd been looking forward to a year of double dates in Hogsmeade with their best friends. And now, Draco follows Hermione like a beaten dog, while she claims they're not together anymore, and they're both keeping secrets with Harry Potter and Pansy Parkinson. Madness!

Lord Voldemort now crawls and curses his way back to England. He needs a servant, a loyal servant, and he finds one in the home of Barty Crouch. Foolish Barty who rescued his son from Azkaban only to imprison him in his kitchen.

Dumbledore sets the horcrux squad up with an office in the room of requirement, stocked with the Pensieve and memories and every book they could need on dark magic and Voldemort and the founders. And after classes, the four of them meet there and read and review and compare notes, and when Dumbledore can find a new memory, he shows it to them.

Since Dumbledore is dying anyway, and he doesn't want to lose Snape to a cursed position, he takes on the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher himself. The Dueling Club carries on, but it's less popular now, and Harry and Draco have been banned from it.

Together everyday now, Harry can't help but notice that Hermione shakes off Draco when he reaches out for her, and when he asks his brother about it, Draco whimpers about her wanting other people.

And Harry tries to be sympathetic, but a dead hope rekindles. He screws up his courage and asks Hermione for a Hogsmeade date. And she says no, but he asks again. No fights, I promise, but I'm other people. Please give me a try, and the please catches her. A try, a trial, don't expect anything.

And Harry tries to feel triumphant, but the joy's rather gone out of it now. Hermione encourages Draco to ask someone out too, mostly so he's less likely to see and raise a scene. He doesn't want to. But he can't tell Hermione no, so he asks a third year Hufflepuff he has no interest in.

"A third year? Don't you think that's inappropriate."

"You can't tell me to date other people, and then tell me who to date," he sniffs back.

And no one's really happy at Hogsmeade that weekend, except the third year who got a free meal and bragging rights. Harry's finally got Hermione alone and can't figure out what to do now he's done it. She wants to talk politics, house-elves, and social justice and doesn't like anything he says on the subject. He tries talking Quidditch, but she doesn't follow any teams. He remembers it took Draco two years and a dementor to get a first kiss out of her and decides it's not worth waiting for. He complains to Pansy, who kisses him for getting over Granger, and thank goodness that nonsense is done. You only wanted her because Draco did, anyway.

Draco is not happy to learn of the date but is happy it went poorly. He stops whining and starts planning. Besides this Voldemort problem is bigger, and if he doesn't feel like killing his brother, no one else should either.

Memories of Gaunts, memories of Riddles, books on founders, books on horcruxes. In classes, between classes, in the room, and one day Pansy wears the gold locket with a green S that Harry gave her, and Hermione looks up from her book and stares at it.

"What are you staring at, Granger?"

"Where did you get that locket?"

"Harry, gave it to me," Pansy says bright as a button and almost as sharp.

"Put it on the table."

Pansy protests, but Hermione insists, and the boys have learned not to argue with her. An examination, Slytherin's mark found, the Gaunt heirloom, Merope's last possession. Harry, where did you get it? Found it at Sirius's.

It won't open. It won't. They pry and poke and hammer, until one of them remembers Slytherin was a Parselmouth. Tell it to open, Harry. And Harry does, and it does, and a nasty eye stares out at them and Pansy shrieks and Hermione thinks to summon Dumbledore. And Dumbledore comes down and puts out the eye with the elder wand.

Three broken horcruxes are lined up on the shelves now. Do you think that's it? Did we get all of them? But who can say? Who can know? And Dumbledore must go looking for the answer.

A second Hogsmeade weekend, and Hermione's determined to try again. Someone better this time. Maybe a friend, someone she can laugh with. Neville's with Ginny, but Ron's a decent fellow. So she asks him. And once, Draco tells him "go ahead" and tries to look unconcerned, Ron up for giving it a try. And the second date is twice as awkward as the first. Ron's not convinced Draco's really disinterested, and when Hermione tries to talk theory with him, he just gives her a blank stare. So they give up and share a butterbeer and go back home. Draco listens to Ron's account with feigned disinterest and plans a plan.

Meanwhile, Harry's out with all the Slytherins. Pansy is on his arm. Other girls are trying to catch his eye, and he decides being over that Hermione thing isn't so bad. To top the day, Lucius appears and asks to take Harry to lunch, just the two of them. Harry's happy to have some time with Father that Draco isn't getting too, so he farewells to his friends and promises to meet up with them later.

Which would be good and fine, except Lucius is at the Ministry, and Harry's walking off alone with the Dark Lord's servant, polyjuiced to look like Lucius. Why take months laying an elaborate trap, when Harry will walk off so willingly with the man he calls Father?

A quick stunner, a portkey, and off to the grave yard. No, let the boy sleep. No need to wake him. This is not a Harry Potter who has thrice defied the Dark Lord and needs to be publicly bested. This is a pampered teen raised by a Lucius Malfoy, sorted into Slytherin, with a faint resemblance to Voldemort himself at that age. What happened when he was two might very well have been a fluke, more the fault of the mother than the child.

A dark ceremony follows. Blood taken, bones drawn from the earth, Barty Crouch willingly severs his own hand to bring the Dark Lord back to his full form. Harry is tended, taken to a bed, and there the Dark Lord sits and watches and waits for him to wake.

Lucius meanwhile has been contacted. Where did you take Harry Potter? He's expected back at school and his friends saw you walk off with him.

Nonsense! But I've been in London all day. I haven't- And realization dawns and brings with it an icy stab of fear. Lucius raises the Aurors office. Harry's been taken! Kidnapped! He sends owls to everyone with eyes. Find, Harry! Find him! An award! Anyone with information, anyone who can bring him home!

Back at Riddle House, Harry opens his eyes. He's on a stale, dusty bed in a strange room. His last memory is of Lucius with his arm around his shoulder.

A cold, high voice from his nightmares greets him, "Harry Potter. Wake up, Harry. Face me."

Harry's up and wide-eyed and searching for his wand, but it's gone. This black robed monster man with a serpent's face is watching him with slitted red eyes. And he doesn't want to believe Voldemort is back, but who else could this be?

"Relax, Harry." The Dark Lord sooths. "There's no need for us to be enemies."

But Harry's not convinced, not at all. "You killed my parents!"

"That was war, Harry. Understand, they were trying to kill me too."

"You tried to kill me!"

"A mistake. A horrible mistake." The snake-like face attempts an apologetic smile. "One I've been paying for ever since. For fifteen years, I've paid for it, and now I'd like to make it right. Let us be friends, you and I."

Friends? Friends with Lord Voldemort? Friends with his parents' murderer? Friends with the man he was sworn to kill? Harry shakes his head. He can't accept it.

"Lucius was my friend," Voldemort purrs, testing him.

Harry finds his shudders worse, and his head shakes harder. "No, no, he wouldn't..." he begins, but there is that last memory. Lucius's arm around his shoulder, and now he's here at the mercy of Lord Voldemort. And Harry fights the urge to cry.

Lord Voldemort is the master of reshaping broken hearts. Harry has been warned of his magical prowess, but not of his power to manipulate. He knows of Voldemort's horcruxes but not his silver tongue. "I don't know what you've been told about me, Harry, but Lucius understood the higher cause. He was devoted to the old ways, and I had hoped he'd raise you in them as well."

And Harry does know something of tradition and knows his Father is fond of it. But he wouldn't. He can't. Yet, Harry's been reading history books and knows of the murders and vanishings from the first war. And his heart breaks to think Lucius was a part of it. Despair and hopelessness threaten to overtake him. But Voldemort seems reluctant to kill him, and this gives him some courage. "The war was your fault! All your fault! Why can't you leave everything alone? What's so wrong with Muggle-borns! I have friends who...If you want to be my friend, why don't you just go away! Let me go! Please!"

Voldemort listens, bony white finger tapping his lipless mouth. How to convince the boy? He has too much fire, too much compassion, too much love to lure him with greed and power. There's no darkness in him. "Harry, let me show you something. Lucius has sheltered you too much, I think." He stands and offers his arm. Harry, realizing he's wandless and must wait for an opportunity, takes it. Voldemort apparates him to a Muggle alley and points across the street. "Look there, Harry. In that building doctors, who are supposed to be like our healers, kill Muggle babies in their mother's wombs before they can draw their first breath. That is what Muggles do with unwanted children."

And Harry recoils. He's never heard anything so horrid.

The world dissolves and this time Voldemort takes him to a museum of death. He casts a glamour so they won't be noticed. He shows him pictures of mangled bodies in piles, cold lifeless pictures of death and torture. "This is what Muggles call the holocaust. This is what Muggles do to each other. This is the world of my own childhood."

Harry shudders and Voldemort takes him to another hall of death and pictures of burnings and hangings. "The witch hunts. This is what Muggles do to us if given the opportunity. Didn't you wonder why we must hide?"

The Dark Lord shows Harry more and more of the worst of humanity. Muggles men who won't let women show their faces. Other places where they sell them for sex. Here they keep each other as slaves and have children fight their wars. Look here when even away from all that, they take drugs and destroy themselves. And none of this is new, none of this seems to change.

They return at last to Riddle House. Harry shaken to the core with the horrors he's seen and as frightened of Muggles as he is the Voldemort. "You see now why we call them mudbloods. You see the dirt they come from."

"But Hermione..." Harry can't believe she's of this world. "My mother?"

"Some overcome their origins," Voldemort says to help him reconcile. "But it's difficult. Very difficult." Why, Harry, you're shaking. Let us call your Father. Let us bring Lucius here.

Lucius has returned to his wife and manor in despair. The mark has returned. He fears what that means. He fears what it means for Harry most of all. And now the mark burns. The Dark Lord, thought long dead is calling for him.

"You must go, Lucius. You must go."

Lucius goes quickly, hoping to find his missing son and dreading to find him too.

Barty Crouch Jr., another ghost thought long dead, leads Lucius inside an old manor house. There's Lord Voldemort seated in an old high backed chair as though it were a throne. And Harry, alive, but pale and haunted. Lucius approaches carefully, wanting to run to Harry and embrace him, but not daring. "Harry, are you injured?" he asks in a measured voice which betrays nothing.

Harry shakes his head ever so slightly, and Lucius turns to face the Dark Lord. He kneels, knowing it will go better for them if he does. "My Lord?"

Voldemort is not fooled, but he knows it's better to let Lucius think he can't read him. "Go to your son, Lucius."

And Lucius is quick to join Harry on the sofa, to put his arm around him, but Harry cringes at his touch and this wounds Lucius more than the rest. But this is not the time for questions.

"Peace, Lucius," the Dark Lord purrs. "Harry has come face to face with the darkness of this world, but I have no wish to harm him. Let us talk. Let us be friends. Please tell Harry, that you were one of my Death Eaters, that the history books have warped the noble world we were making."

And what can Lucius say? To deny it could be deadly. "Please, Harry, I couldn't tell you. The Ministry..."

"He has my wand," Harry says.

"To be returned shortly," Voldemort reassures them. "After we talk. But we must talk. I hope you see now, Harry, why Muggles are the problem. Why your Father has shielded you from them. Look, Harry, how Lucius cares for you. You must forgive him. He was only trying to protect you."

Harry wants to believe that, so he begins too. Lucius's hand on his shoulder is warm and promises protection. Harry only wants to go home and be safe again. Lucius takes the Dark Lord's words as encouragement and hugs Harry tighter, whispers a reassurance. It will be all right.

"What's going to happen?" Harry asks, eyeing the Dark Lord cautiously.

Voldemort smiles. "That is up to you, Harry," he says, hissing silk. "You defeated me. How would you make the world right again? How can I help you?"

And Harry hadn't expected this. The Dark Lord deferring to him? Offering to follow him? Lucius had not expected this either, but he isn't displeased by it. Hope begins to grow inside him.

Harry thinks of his happy wizarding home, with the warm bed and the library and the peacocks, and feels pity for those trapped in Muggle ones. What must they endure? "There's a book at Hogwarts that records magical births," he says cautiously. "If Muggle-borns can overcome their birth, the trouble must be in the raising more than the blood. Wouldn't it be better if we just took Muggle-borns before they're tainted and put them with proper wizarding families?"

For a long moment, no one speaks, then the Dark Lord smiles. To have been spared his own childhood in that cold orphanage appeals to him. A wonderful idea, Harry. Fantastic.

Lucius smiles with relief, and Harry is encouraged. "I don't want a war. I don't think it's right to kill anyone. Not even Muggles, but I'm glad I was adopted. And I think it would be better, for everyone. The Muggles aren't equipped to deal with magical children. Lucius told me how happy my aunt was to be rid of me."

Brilliant, Harry, brilliant.

Harry has another worry though. "But, the prophecy?"

Voldemort waves his hand dismissively. "That prophecy caused all the trouble to start with. Ignore it. We make our own fate, Harry. Great wizards like us make our own fate."

And Harry could collapse from relief. He doesn't have to kill. He doesn't have to be killed. Voldemort and Lucius speak eagerly now, eager to embrace this compromise. There are details to workout. Things must proceed cautiously. Everyone loves Harry, so he should be their mouthpiece, their leader. Let's make him Minister of Magic. With his fame, it should be easy. And Harry can't help but catch their excitement. Him? Minister? He had never been hungry for power, but think of all the good he could do. Think how much better he could make the world.

But there's another problem. Your horcruxes.

Lucius's ear perk up. This is not a word he knows. Harry has been keeping something from him. But it's clear the Dark Lord knows this word. Before the Dark Lord can eject Lucius from the room, Harry spills a story about a diary destroyed, a ring, a locket...and for the first time, the Dark Lord feels a chill of fear. But that is all, Harry tells him. They know of no others. Our secret then, Harry. Our secret. Lucius is burning with curiosity, but he dare not risk more of the Dark Lord's ire. He knows he'll have to explain how Dumbledore got the diary.

Will you be okay? Harry asks, sounding genuinely concerned for his new friend.

Perhaps it was this pity that saved Lucius from a Crucio. I will be fine, Voldemort assures him. Do not worry. Just keep our secret.

The Death Eaters are called. They are told Harry's plan and encouraged to call it brilliant. Some of them do embrace it eagerly. Even if they have doubts, they must tuck them away. Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter standing together make a convincing argument.

Snape comes too, expecting to find Harry dead or in peril and a Dark Lord full of vengeance. But here's Harry alive, and Lord Voldemort deferring to him. He's more cautious, but he must confess he likes this new plan. He thinks how things would be different if Lily had been raised by wizards, if he'd never had reason to be split from her, if the word "mudblood" was banned from their vocabulary. To make Harry minister? To make it all legal and policy? Yes, even Severus Snape can see merit in this plan. A Dark Lord who has mellowed. A Dark Lord who will protect Harry and help him. While part of him knows Lily would never approve, she is gone. Except her eyes, which shine with hope from Harry's face. Yes, Severus Snape is once more a true Death Eater.

But appearances must be maintained.

Harry must be returned to Hogwarts, quickly, and with a plausible story for his kidnapping. A scapegoat is needed and hastily chosen. Barty, you will do me another great service, and in the process get your vengeance on your father. Barty's not keen to return to Azkaban, but the thought of taking his father with him consoles him. Be patient, Barty. We will make Harry Minister, and then he can grant pardons.

Soon the newspapers are running the story of how Lucius Malfoy rescued his ward Harry Potter from the infamous Barty Crouch Jr. It's a story rife with scandal. Respectable Barty Crouch senior must now go to Azkaban for freeing his Death Eater son. Crouch and Jr. are cast as villains most foul, but Lucius, Lucius is the hero of the piece, though he does his best to insist it was a team effort. Harry was gallant at just the right moment.

Draco's jubilant at first to get his brother back, relieved he has not been hurt. But as the weeks wear on, it's clear Harry has changed. He's no longer interested in hunting horcruxes. He's no longer afraid, not of Voldemort, not of anything. "I just have a feeling everything's going to be all right now," Harry dismisses him. "We destroyed three, surely that's all."

Draco and Hermione try to reason with him, but Pansy's quite happy to be done with it. "Harry's decided to go into politics," she tells them proudly.

And this isn't like Harry at all. Draco writes Lucius. Lucius writes back. Not worried. He's proud of Harry's new found ambition. He's a Slytherin after all. Draco appeals to Snape, but the Potions Master merely suggest Harry was a bit more traumatized by his kidnapping than he lets on. Draco tries to tell Hermione, but while she not impressed, neither is she overly concerned. "Harry's always been a bit of prat, hasn't he?"

She's more worried about upcoming exams and finding a date for the third Hogsmeade weekend. "Maybe, he's right. Three is a significant magical number. Maybe we did get all of them."

Dumbledore is more willing to listen, more concerned. Snape revealed his renewed Dark Mark to him before attending the meeting and was therefore forced to reveal the Dark Lord's return. He lied, however, about what happened there, pretends Harry has no knowledge of Voldemort. When Dumbledore told Harry of the Dark Lord's return, the boy had feigned concern, but Draco's words make him suspicious. He takes the Malfoy boy into his confidence. He had wanted to tell the whole wizarding world of Voldemort's return, but he must lure a coward back to Hogwarts to gain a memory. And now he's not sure he can trust Severus Snape. He gives Draco permission to tell Hermione, but no one else, not yet.

Hermione is told and agrees to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas, but she wants to focus on exams now. A date finds her this time. Cormac McClaggen takes her to Madam Puddifoot's, and by the time she's escaped, she's almost ready to swear off boys altogether. She finds Draco at the Three Broomsticks with Neville and Ginny and tries to pretend nothing happened, but she feels much safer sitting with them. Ginny and Neville say again she's being silly, but Draco doesn't say a word as he puts her hair back in order. Hermione's starting to feel pretty silly, but pride won't let her say it.

Dumbledore is still hunting memories, slowed down by teaching classes. He knows he needs Horace Slughorn, and he's willing now to risk Snape in the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. After exams, he's free to recruit the old professor. Yes, a raise, Horace. Just think, Harry Potter wants to be Minister of Magic, and you can collect him.

Harry goes home for Christmas. One week with Lucius and Narcissa. One week with Sirius is the plan. The Malfoys and the Parkinsons have been chosen to set an example. Death Eater wives become pregnant with pillows. Narcissa _hates_ this, but she loves Lucius and knows what refusing would mean. So she plays along and pretends to be happy.

Harry has cautiously tested his idea on some of the Slytherins and Pansy thought it quite noble and practical, so he tries testing it out on Sirius too. Sirius is horrified and thinks Harry has gotten quite the wrong idea about Muggles. "But I asked Hermione," Harry protests. "She says there are such things as abortion and holocausts and slavery and such!"

And Sirius can't deny that. "But there's so much more, Harry. Look we have Dark wizards in our history too. There's some good in us and in Muggles too. Only real difference is that we have magic, and they don't." Sirius decides it's time for Harry to meet the Muggle side of his family. This turns out to be a huge mistake. Other than taking more care with who he tells his idea to, all Harry learns from the Dursleys is that Muggles are indeed quite awful, even when they're not killing each other.

Sirius confides in Dumbledore, and Dumbledore confides in Sirius. Voldemort is back and the Order of the Phoenix must be called together once more.

Back at Hogwarts, Draco and Hermione try to find something helpful in the room of requirement, but they've looked through all these book and aren't quite sure what they should be looking for. On the third day, Draco requires the room to put the books and table and horcruxes away and fills it instead with flowers and a loveseat. He borrows a guitar from the Muggle Studies class and asks Hermione if he can sing her some songs he's learned on it. By the time he's done singing "Yesterday" and "Time in a Bottle", they're back together, and that is that.

Because he can't trust Harry and can't trust Snape, Dumbledore decides to tell Moody everything, absolutely everything, and pray he can make use of the information.

Break is over and everyone's at Hogwarts. Neville and Ginny are delighted to find Draco and Hermione together again. Harry has big news for Draco. Narcissa is going to have a baby, sooner rather than later, and Draco can't believe it, doesn't want to. He feels like he's being replaced.

A new teacher for potions, and Snape teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. The new potions master has a Club, and Harry, Draco, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny are all invited. Harry's ready to play politics now and doesn't miss a meeting. Draco and Hermione get a mission from Dumbledore to retrieve a memory, the real memory. Harry realizes Pansy isn't popular enough to help him become Minister and turns her over to date Cho Chang, which only surprises Pansy.

Draco and Hermione get Dumbledore's permission to bring Neville and Ginny in on the horcrux squad. They're two down and Neville might have been the chosen one, and Ginny's top in the dueling club. Draco and Hermione decide on a frontal assault with Slughorn, and between Draco's charms and Hermione's reasoning, they get the memory out of him much faster than Harry could have. (Hermione can save the liquid luck she won for later.)

Harry is on a mission too, but for Voldemort rather than Dumbledore. When the headmaster is absent for a few days, he and Snape sneak up to copy names from the magical book.

The first few infants are kidnapped, but the kidnappings appear only in Muggle newspapers, which only Dumbledore reads. Narcissa and Pansy's mother are blessed with new babies. He's suspicious but has no proof and can only pass on his suspicions to Moody. He tries to warn the Ministry, but they won't listen. Voldemort back and stealing babies? Blood purists taking in Muggle-borns? Ridiculous! He warns the Horcrux squad, gets their solemn vow not to give up. Not on their mission and not on Harry.

Then Dumbledore dies, more or less of natural causes. He's a master of death now, meeting it as an old friend, but not without regrets.

As the sixth year ends, Harry Potter is Voldemort's man. Draco, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny are left with the weighty knowledge that there are probably seven pieces of soul, and until they can find the remaining three horcruxes, they are fighting an invincible foe. The Order scrambles to organize under the leadership of Alastor Moody, and Lucius finds himself bottle feeding a Muggle-born child.

No, this has not been a normal year.

oOo


	8. Year Seven: Part 1

**Author's Note: **This story is a collaboration with my friend Imbeni. I wrote it, but we both plotted equally. I borrowed the style of Jim Henson's Storyteller series. This fic is intended to read out loud in a theatric manner, as such grammar is far from proper. Dialogue outside of quotes is summary dialogue. Dialogue in quotes is word for word. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. All characters created by J.K. Rowling are owned by J.K. Rowling. None of us are making any money off this and no infringement is intended.

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oOo

**Year Seven: Part 1**

It's an awkward scene at the Malfoy manor. Narcissa doesn't want to touch the new baby. Lucius has had to tend it for the last couple of months. For once, Lucius can't understand his wife. She's always wanted a daughter. He'd arranged for her to get a girl. He had not expected her to love the child like she did Draco, but he had hoped she could at least pretend. In public, he can't let it be seen how Narcissa recoils from the newborn, so he finds himself once more forced to over balance. She avoids. He coddles. She ignores, and he indulges. And since he really isn't given much choice in the matter, he tries to pretend the child is his.

Harry is oblivious to Narcissa's discomfort. He's used to loving adopted family and enjoys the novelty of the new baby. He doesn't care she's Muggle-born. She's fresh and untainted with sweet smiles and tiny fingers. Lucius has never been good at pretending without becoming. He loves his little Licinia now, though he hadn't planned to. And seeing the baby smile back at Lucius makes Harry think he's done the right thing.

Draco isn't oblivious. He sees his mother show more interest in a magazine than the infant. He remembers Dumbledore's suspicions. He doesn't want to ask, doesn't want to consider, but he _knows_ this child doesn't belong. Her eyes are green. Her wisps of hair too dark. He knows his father has done something awful. He knows Harry is party to it. But he can't turn in his parents. He can't betray his brother. He must try to save them from themselves. But how?

He does ask for his grandmother's ring and gets it. No one asking what it's for, though his mother gives him a wary look and sighs. Lucius and Harry are too busy with the new baby to pay much attention. Draco is eager to escape and tells them he's going to visit Sirius. Permission is granted, but "Why don't you and Harry have your parties here this year? You can bring Miss Granger if you like."

Draco can't answer but floos off to Sirius's to hide his confusion. At Grimmauld place, the Order has moved in. Lupin is now a permanent resident. Neville and Ginny are there already and Hermione too. Draco's determined to keep her as far from Malfoy Manor as possible, but he tells them of the sudden infant and invitation. Moody won't listen to any nonsense about them being too young. He inducts them into the Order, Ron too. Molly tries to keep Ginny out, but she's over ruled.

They're still at Grimmauld Place when Fudge comes to read them Dumbledore's will. Most things go to Hogwarts, but Draco gets Dumbledore's wand, Hermione his Invisibility Cloak, Neville the broken ring, and Ginny an old copy of Beedle the Bard. They're touched to be remembered, but not sure what the gifts mean. The wand goes on a mantle, the ring into a jewelry box, the book on the shelf, and the cloak in Hermione's pocket. The Deathly Hallows are where they belong, shelved.

Draco returns to the Malfoy Manor for his coming of age party. All his parents' friends are there, all of Harry's. He remembers when they used to be his friends too, but that seems long ago. He receives two proposals, one willing, one clearly an arrangement. He's tempted by neither of them. Rita Skeeter was on stand-by in case he accepted and instead asks how he feels about the new baby. He mutters something less than enthusiastic and does his best to dodge her.

In the evening, he escapes back to Grimmauld Place and offers Hermione his own proposal. She accepts and that is that.

Cho is out of school and back with Cedric. It gets Harry's photo in Witch Weekly, so he's not too fussed about it. Pansy brings over her new little brother for play dates with Harry and Licinia. She's determined to demonstrate her mothering skills to Harry. She put his time with Cho to good use, dating other boys, bolstering her own popularity, upgrading her wardrobe, mastering every magical aide to beauty she can find. Harry knows what she's doing and nearly resigned to it. It is nice to have someone who backs his politics.

The Prophet runs one story on the mysterious disappearances of young Muggle-borns, before Voldemort's agents put a stop to it. The Order is stretched thin trying to guard the other unwitting parents and children, unaware of magic or the danger. The Death Eaters position themselves in the paper and the Ministry. Moody tries to warn the Minister, but everyone knows Moody is mad.

And that's what the Daily Prophet says. Moody is mad, Draco Malfoy is jealous of his parents' new heir, but charming Harry Potter loves the new baby. See how nicely he poses outside the fancy restaurant with his new almost-sister and the lovely Ms. Parkinson.

But Voldemort feels more public examples are needed. Percy Weasley is swayed by Harry Potter's argument that it's the wizarding world's obligation to take care of Muggle-born children. It's hard to say whether or not he really believes the car accident was in fact accidental, but he marries his girlfriend Penelope so they can take in the new Muggle-born orphan.

Harry believes it was an accident. Lucius gives him no reason to think otherwise. He's glad to see Percy and Penelope's picture splashed across the Daily Prophet. Tisks over Arthur and Molly's grim faced disapproval.

The mood at Grimmauld Place is increasingly somber. As the children disappear, it's easier to guard the ones remaining. But where are they going? Ron's ashamed of his brother and every time the twins ask to disown him, Molly cries.

Harry wants to know where the children are going too, and the Dark Lord shows him. They've started their new world in Little Hangleton. There are too many Muggle-borns to place them all with pure-blood families, so Riddle House has been converted into a children's home. The small village in the valley is now under Death Eater rule, erased from the maps and memories of the outside world. Harry is shown happy, well fed children who refer to the Dark Lord as "Father Voldemort". Muggle women have been recruited to change diapers and wash bottles. They dress in neat uniforms and cast their eyes down when the wizards pass. "You see, everyone with a purpose. Everything in its place."

Lucius seems to approve, so Harry does too. The children are entertained with magic and charm Harry with shy smiles and not so shy tugs at his legs. A playground has been added to the yard, and Harry watches them play until Lucius tells him it's time to go home. Yes, surely he's done the right thing.

The horcrux squad needs to get out for fresh air. A walk in Diagon Alley leads to a discovery of a magazine full of conspiracy theories about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, kidnapped Muggle-borns, a Dark Lord returned, and Harry Potter in league with him. Who publishes this Quibbler? This bizarre mix of the absurd and the insightful. They must meet them. Turns out the editor is just over the hill from the Burrow. Ron with them, they go to meet this Xenophilius Lovegood and find a kind eccentric with a daughter their own age.

She's eager to help them. This girl Ginny knows as Looney Lovegood is full of insight and sharp as a tack. She has a few funny ideas about Snorkacks and nargles, but they're so glad for allies, they don't care. Besides Draco sees in her a weapon to rescue Harry. She's pure-blood, so his parents can't object to him bringing her to the Manor. In fact, he's pretty sure she's a second cousin on his father's side and her mother's.

She's brave enough to go, to see for herself, to try reasoning with Harry. Draco gets Ginny to give her a quick makeover before they do. No orange turnips, cork bottle necklaces, or frumpy hand-knitted jumpers allowed at Malfoy Manor. Ginny finds a nice set of lavender robes that once belonged to Luna's mother and insists she wears them. Luna's bemused but rather enjoys the attention.

Draco returns to Malfoy Manor the next day with a girl who isn't Hermione Granger. His mother couldn't be happier, until she hears the name, does the math and realizes second cousins are too close to match even for pure-blood families. As Narcissa slumps back into her chair, her attention returning to her copy of Witch Weekly, Draco tries to formally introduce Luna, but she's already drifted over to the bassinet. "May I?" she asks, and Harry nods.

"Father," Draco continues. "This is our cousin, Luna Lovegood. I discovered her in Diagon Alley, and thought she ought to meet the new addition."

Lucius gives his son a curious look and tries to remember why they had disowned the Lovegoods. "Oh, yes, that Quibbler rag."

Luna doesn't seem to hear him. She's holding tiny Licinia tenderly with sad eyes and speaking to her in a soft, musical voice. "Hello, little one." And there she is sweetness, light, and motherhood. Harry's never met anyone like her. Her river of blonde hair twists and curls and beckons Harry to swim in it.

Lucius sees this and ponders it. She is a second cousin to Draco but not to Harry. No, this fine. Splendid in fact. Lucius has no daughters of his own to offer his ward, and this could bring him closer into his family.

Luna kisses the baby's head like an apology. With the greatest reluctance places the child back in the bassinet. Outside, she tells Draco. She would like to go outside. Draco escorts her out like a gentleman, and Harry follows as though compelled by magic forces.

They stop beside the reflecting pool. Draco leans against the wisteria. Luna sits on the bench, and Harry beside her. The silence hangs long, and Harry's about to ask her about his coming of age party when she speaks. "Don't you feel sorry the parents?"

And Harry's caught with his mouth hanging open. "Pardon?"

"The kidnappings. Those children being taken away from their parents. I would think you of all people would understand what it means to lose your family."

And Harry's never felt so wrong footed. "I have a family," he says, looking to his brother for support and getting none.

"How would you feel if Licinia was taken?"

And Harry squirms inside and swallows. He feels like she knows, but he can't be sure, and he can't admit. "We're protecting her. We love her."

"Love?" Luna lets the word hang there as she stands and walks to the water.

Harry's left alone on the bench. He doesn't like this conversation, doesn't like it at all. He needs to get away from it. "My coming of age party is at the end of the month. Do you want to come?"

Luna's arms have crossed and her eyes say no, but Draco says "Yes, I've already asked her."

"I'd like to go home now."

Draco is swift to offer his arm again and walks her back to the floo. He brings her back to Harry's coming of age party, but if Harry tries to talk to her, Draco leads her away. If Harry tries to dance with her, Draco cuts in. And where this tactic utterly failed on Draco, it's working too well on Harry.

They return to school. Luna's voted into the horcrux squad. They can use a fresh set of eyes and some wild theories. When he can get away from Pansy, Harry tries to talk to her again, but she looks at him so sadly. Her words are soft but pull no punches. "Voldemort really is back, you know. I would think you'd want to stop him."

Harry shrugs. "Maybe you can defeat someone without killing them."

"Yes, maybe he can."

Harry retreats back to Pansy for reassurance. He feels like there's a conspiracy against him now, and there is in a way. He remembers when Draco, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny were his friends too, not so long ago, and he can't understand why Luna hates him so much. He can understand why Hermione did, but he's never done anything to Luna.

Lucius has used his influence with the board of governors to get Snape the headmaster's position. Sirius Black is asked to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, mainly so Snape can keep an eye on him. Lucius and Snape are on a campaign to replace Divination and Muggle Studies with Magical Languages and Practical Lore.

They have supporters. "Just as long as they don't do it during our N.E.W.T. year."

The horcrux squad is busy re-examining evidence and re-examining what they know of Lord Voldemort. They dig into Tom Riddle's school records, discover his award for the capture of...Hagrid? Hagrid is questioned, and as they're far more inclined to believe him than Lord Voldemort, they decide it's more likely he's telling the truth. What was the girl's name? Myrtle? Moaning Myrtle? A bathroom examined, a small snake found on the facet. Could this be it? If I were Voldemort, I'd hide my Horcrux in the Chamber of Secrets.

This seems to make sense but how to open it? Slytherin was a Parselmouth. Voldemort is a Parselmouth. Myrtle heard a different language, with a hissy sound to it. Could it have been Parseltongue?

Ginny sighs and leans against the sink. "We need Harry."

It's Halloween. Draco catches Harry on the way to the feast and pulls him aside. "Come on, we think we've found another horcrux." Harry's intrigued but worried too. He follows Draco wondering if he can interfere without revealing himself.

Luna and the rest of the horcrux squad are there, and he's still rather intrigued by her hair but worried what she'll say to him this time. "Come on, Harry, talk to the sink."

"What?"

"The snake, on the sink right there. Speak Parseltongue to it. Tell it to open up or something."

Harry's confused, but since everyone's staring at him expectantly, he does it. And the sink does open up to reveal a large pipe. "Thanks, Harry," says Ginny. She lights her wand and down she drops.

When she calls up that she's okay, the others follow. "Good job," Luna tells him, and Harry follows too. Which was a good thing, because they needed him to open a second set of doors. Behind the second set of doors a fearsome sight greets them. A Basilisk, coiled in an enchanted sleep, quietly hissing to itself. No one but Harry can understand it, but it does nothing to reassure him. It dreams of murder and death.

_Sshhh! Where should we look? Where would you hide a horcrux? Under the Basilisk. Bother, I knew you were going to say that._

Now while fighting an angry Basilisk with nothing but a sword is a difficult task for anyone, much less a twelve year old, killing a sleeping Basilisk is rather quick work for six talented Wizards who can summon a rooster. The creature is quickly killed and with magic lifted, but there's nothing to find under it. At first they're discouraged, but then Hermione smiles and begins using magic to extract the teeth.

"Decided to be a dentist after all?" Draco quips, and before Harry can ask what a dentist is, Hermione's rolling her eyes. "Basilisk venom is one of the few things that can destroy horcruxes." She summons a trunk and fills it with fangs, then sticks a couple in her pocket.

Snape has noticed Harry and Draco's absence and meets the bedraggled sextet in the hall way. In minutes, the story of the basilisk is out, and Snape confiscates the trunk full of fangs. The students are happy to leave the giant snake corpse to him, and Snape spends many a merry hour harvesting potion materials from it.

The story soon circulates around the school. Harry's the Heir of Slytherin but killed the Basilisk. What a joke on old Slytherin, hey? And this too gets Harry's picture in the paper, though he's not enjoying it quite so much. He wants to spend time with his brother and Luna and the squad again, but he can't do it without feeling the ripping stab of Luna's soft words. Draco and Hermione speak less softly. Sirius will barely look at him. Harry can't stand it. He needs to win them over, but how?

The horcrux squad is stumped again. They still suspect a horcrux at Hogwarts, but where to look? What to look for? Ravenclaw had a diadem. Luna draws them a picture of it, which is better than nothing, but where?

Dobby stops by to visit Draco and Hermione before exams. He's about to go when Draco seizes on an idea. "Dobby, can you get the house-elves in the kitchens to help with something? We need to find this diadem."

"Dobby will try, sir," the elf says happily. Two days later, he pops up with the blue stoned head piece. "You was practically on top of it, sir." The diadem is tested. Yes, definitely a horcrux. Luckily, Hermione thought to pocket those two fangs. Stabbitty, stab, stab! And the horcux is no more.

Unfortunately Dobby can't find Hufflepuff's goblet. They go home for Christmas with a little more hope, but a larger mystery.

oOo

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**End Notes**: People seem to be getting hung up on this, so I thought I'd say a little on the invisibility cloak and the Deathly Hallows. All we're told is that James left the invisibility cloak in Dumbledore's possession before he died. In canon Dumbledore returns the cloak to Harry, not immediately but at Christmas, by Christmas canon Harry had done quite a bit to prove himself (chosen Gryffindor over Slytherin [to avoid being a dark wizard], rescued a girl who annoyed him from a Troll, displayed an impressive natural talent for Quidditch [control, confidence, observation skills] and shown himself to be a rather humble/good kids despite his bleak upbringing and sudden fame). Slytherin Harry on the other hand is faithfully devoted to Lucius Malfoy (and later Lord Voldemort) and has done nothing to demostrate that he would use the cloak responsibly. I doubt James gave Dumbledore specific instructions regarding the cloak, other than a "use it as you see best for the Order"...and handing the cloak over to Harry at any point in this story would have been just as good as handing it over to Lucius/Lord V.

When I call Dumbledore a "Master of Death" it's ironic, technically he possesses all three hallows. (Nothing really says you have to earn them, except perhaps in the case of the elder wand, just possess them.) However owning them doesn't really give Dumbledore any special insights or stop death from coming. Honestly it isn't owning the Hallows that gives Harry his Mastery of Death in canon either...it's the process he's gone through, the Hallows are powerful magical items but mainly symbolic. On a literary level, the Hallows are a Grail Quest, to seek them invites destruction. It's only when Harry stops seeking them that he comes to possess/master them. Despite all else, Dumbledore has gained the wisdom to gracefully accept his own death...this does make him a master of it, but not because he owns the Hallows.

Dumbledore can't trust Slytherin Harry, but he does care about him. He gives the Hallows to the people closest to Harry who have proven themselves dedicated to taking down Voldemort. Hermione is given the invisibility cloak because Dumbledore trusts her to use it for the good of the Order and Harry...and it would do Harry more good in her hands than his at this time. If Albus wanted them to understand the nature of the Hallows he should have given the book to Draco and the wand to Ginny...but the man's not perfect...and I think part of him knows that if you make the Hallows too easy you entirely miss the point.

And them being "shelved" is my obvious dig on the canon. Tacking on a Grail Quest which is obtained only by not seeking it was a literarily brilliant move that has earned J.K. her place in college English classes forever. I just think it was far too much to introduce in the last book of a seven book series and ultimately bogged it down. You're free to disagree, but if you haven't caught on by now that this story is only half-serious, then you have also missed the point.


	9. Year Seven: Part 2

**Author's Note: **This story is a collaboration with my friend Imbeni. I wrote it, but we both plotted equally. I borrowed the style of Jim Henson's Storyteller series. This fic is intended to read out loud in a theatric manner, as such grammar is far from proper. Dialogue outside of quotes is summary dialogue. Dialogue in quotes is word for word. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. All characters created by J.K. Rowling are owned by J.K. Rowling. None of us are making any money off this and no infringement is intended.

* * *

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**Year Seven: Part 2**

Harry decides the only way to convince Draco is to let him see for himself that the children are safe. Licinia is eight months old now and demands Lucius's attention to the point where he's gotten in the habit of taking a nap when she does, and Narcissa likes to lie with him.

Harry takes the opportunity to ask Draco to side-along. They can both Apparate now. Harry takes him to Little Hangleton.

"What is this place?"

"I wanted to show you where the children are. I want you to see that they're safe. He's changed, Draco. If you come with me to meet him, you'll see!"

Now, Draco might be a Gryffindor, but his brand of bravery falls more along the lines of flowers and love songs. He is not foolhardy enough to drop in on Lord Voldemort unannounced. He urges his brother to be more cautious. "No, wait. Let's look around first."

Harry has been given no reason to worry about what they might see, so he's willing to explore. Draco slinks along the back of houses and through alleys, ears alert and heart pounding. Harry follows along behind, trying to reassure him. "The wizard children are up at the house. I don't think there's much to see down-"

"Ssh!" Draco hisses. He hears voices. He tries to flatten his brother to the wall and peak around the corner. It's a dark sight that greets them. Down below ten shuddering Muggles stand in a line in the snow. Four Death Eaters in robes, but not having bothered to don masks, are pacing in front of them.

"...naughty children..." the voice floats up, then a Crucio and one of the Muggles collapses in pain. Draco wants to rescue them, but it's four on one unless he can count on Harry. Even then the odds are not good. "Yes, I see how much he's changed," Draco spits, willing Harry to see too.

But Harry doesn't want to. "Maybe they have been bad," he argues. "We don't know what they're being punished for. Maybe it was awful!"

Draco takes a step back, repulsed. How can this be the same Harry that warned Ron and Hermione away from the forest? How can this be the Harry who sat on his bed for evening stories? But he has sworn not to give up on him.

"Harry, don't you recognize that man?"

"Which one?

"There! Fenrir Greyback!"

Harry's never seen the man. But he knows the name, and it chills him. "He's the one who turned Lupin."

"Father says he targets kids."

Harry feels colder. "What is he doing here?"

The Death Eaters down below are laughing now. Fenrir picks the smallest girl from the line. "This one for me." He drags her toward the forest, while she screams and cries.

Harry's chest is ice. "We should tell Lord-"

"I think he knows," Draco interrupts darkly. He turns his back on Harry and runs down to the forest. Harry follows him. His head is screaming against him, but he has to stop Fenrir.

Draco finds the werewolf in a clearing and fires a stunner at him. Taken by surprise, Fenrir drops without a fight. Draco hurries to the girl, gently but firmly pulling her away. She's not a day over twelve and clings to him, sobbing and shaking. He glares at Harry. His eyes say, _See. See why they call him the Dark Lord._

And something inside Harry snaps. He points his wand at Fenrir, mutters a curse, and a flash of green light means the werewolf won't hurt anyone ever again.

Draco sees what Harry has done and clings to the girl now as tightly as she is clinging to him. "Si-Sirius," he manages at last. "Let's go to Sirius."

He raises his wand, shoots off a Patronus with a warning, and takes Harry's arm so he doesn't lose him. They Apparate to Grimmauld Place. Draco nearly has to drag his two charges up the stairs, one clinging to him and the other dead weight. He pounds on the door, and Sirius answers. "Harry! What's happened?"

At his godfather's touch, Harry collapses. He's inconsolable! Wracked with guilt beyond bearing! "It's my fault! It's all my fault!" And he can say nothing else. Moody is there. He summons the rest of the horcrux squad, while they try to console the girl and sort out the story. Moody leaves the girl in Lupin's hands and tries to congratulate Harry on killing a Death Eater. This doesn't help. Harry never wanted to hurt anyone.

Luna and Hermione arrive, and Draco fills them in as quickly as he can, though he's not sure how to tell them what Harry did. Sirius has been trying to console his godson, but he's at a loss. Harry is balled on the couch, and Sirius backs away defeated. Harry's tune has changed to a rocking murmur of "Sorry. I'm Sorry. I didn't-"

Luna drifts onto the couch beside him and pulls his head onto her lap. "It's all right, Harry. You can make it right, now." And eventually his sobs fade into shudders, though he still doesn't want to face anyone.

When he calms down, they tell him about the diadem and work on a plan. Moody wants to rescue Little Hangleton, but it won't be an easy battle. They need to get the horcruxes first. If the snake is one, then there's only one that remains hidden. Harry could spy for them. He doesn't want to, but he feels responsible now, so he agrees. There's something else, but even Moody knows the boy has reached his limit for the day.

Sirius floos Lucius to assure him the boys are safe and have been with him. Lucius wants them home, and to avoid suspicion, they are sent. Draco claims to return to Sirius's the next day, though he really snuck off to have Christmas with Hermione's parents. Harry stays at the manor. He's less oblivious now, and Narcissa's ennui finally dawns on him.

"You don't like my brilliant idea, do you?" he asks her.

Narcissa is ready to vent. "It's a terrible plan, Harry. Horrid. Babies ought to be with their real mothers. It's one thing to adopt a needy orphan, but this is dishonest. It's a lie! Licinia's life is a lie, and so is ours!"

"I'm sorry," Harry murmurs. "I'm going to try to set things right." Narcissa can see he really is sorry and hugs him close as though she's his mother too. "It's all right, Harry. I'll forgive you. Just try to talk sense into Lucius."

Narcissa snatches away the baby for a change, and Harry stares at Lucius with heavy eyes. Lucius takes his ward to his office and asks what's wrong.

Harry's too tired to lie. "I killed Fenrir."

Lucius wards the office. This clearly needs to be a private conversation. He won't let Harry go to Azkaban over a werewolf.

The story spills out. Harry's too broken to be cautious. "Did you know?" he asks Lucius. "Did you know about Fenrir?"

Lucius can honestly say he didn't. "You did the right thing," he assures Harry.

Harry's been waiting for someone to say that and clings to it. "I think I've been wrong about a lot of other things," he admits. "I think I've been wrong about Voldemort. He's not my friend."

Lucius twists inside. Old loyalties are slow to die. He had thought himself quite progressive in agreeing to Harry's plan. But he can see Harry's now disillusioned with it. He thinks of Licinia, and the thought of a wizard like Fenrir anywhere near her or the other children makes him angry and ill. He had trusted Lord Voldemort too. "He's very powerful, Harry. You would do better to try to reason with him than fight him. He might listen to you. But if you are too defiant, he will kill us."

Harry frowns and chews on his thought and finally says. "If there was a way to kill Voldemort would you help?"

"That's dangerous talk, Harry. I don't think he can be killed."

"But if there _was _a way...Would-You-Help-_Me_?"

Lucius pauses. Harry clearly knows something he doesn't. "Is there a way?"

And out spills the story of the horcruxes. Harry gives a description of the cup which triggers a memory in Lucius. Voldemort gave two of his most loyal Death Eaters powerful objects to keep safe. Lucius a diary, and Bella a cup. When Bella was sent to Azkaban, Narcissa was entrusted with her key, and Lucius is pretty sure he's seen the cup in her vault.

That night Lucius goes himself to Little Hangleton to hide Fenrir's body. The next day he gets the key and retrieves the cup. He gives it to Harry, who is bursting with relief to have Lucius on his side.

The moment is sobered by Harry's realization that they'll have to give back Licinia. Lucius is far less amenable to this part of the plan. "We must wait at least until the Dark Lord is truly dead." Harry agrees, which buys Lucius a few more months with his darling.

Harry's pleased as punch to show up at the first horcrux squad meeting after term begins with the missing horcrux. HOW? they want to know.

Harry smiles. "Father got it for me."

They're all in shock, but never mind that now. Stabbitty, stab, stab! And the cup's full of holes. "Only the snake left."

Moody must work out the details of their assault, which is delayed till Easter holidays, so as not to tip their hand. Harry's clearly a lousy spy, so the next step is to confront Uncle Snape. Harry and Draco tell him about Fenrir and Little Hangleton, and Snape sighs. A nicer, friendlier Voldemort had been too good to be true. Since he had always been more devoted to Harry and Lucius than Voldemort anyway, he's quite willing to spy for the Order again.

Harry asks Luna for a Hogsmeade date, and while the rest of the horcrux squad is happy to encourage it, Luna's skeptical. Pansy decides being overturned for Looney Lovegood is the last straw and attaches herself to the arm of Terence Higgs, who's out of school already and has a _real_ job.

Whether it would have been a successful date is hard to say, since Moody interrupts. He's decided he needs to tell Harry something and not at the last minute. This is not news to Harry's liking. He's a horcrux too? He has to...die? And at Voldemort's hand? But what about the prophecy? What about...?

But Moody can only shake his head. "I'm only telling you what Dumbledore told me, lad. I hope you and the squad can figure a way around it."

Harry returns to Luna, white as a ghost, and she takes him back to school. He assembles the squad, so he doesn't have to tell them twice, and relays Moody's news. Somber news indeed. Luna does Harry the service of crying for him. She's not sure she wants to date Harry, but she certainly doesn't want him to die. No one else does either, so it's back to the books to find a way to de-horcrux someone without killing them.

Between trying to save Harry and prepare for N.E.W.T.s, they don't have much time for anything else. All two months of dedicated research can pull up is that to de-horcrux Harry, Lord Voldemort must feel genuine remorse, so Harry figures he's doomed. It was his brilliant idea that caused all the trouble. It's his duty to fix it. But he really doesn't want to die.

...not a virgin. "Virgins make better sacrifices," Luna tells him coldly. "Besides, you'll survive somehow. Boy Who Lived and all."

Easter holidays come too soon. Luna allows Harry a kiss for luck. Lucius tells Voldemort that Harry wishes to bring some pure-blood friends to him. Snape has armed the entire Order with Basilisk fangs from the trunk. Everyone is told to kill the snake, though not why.

Harry shows up on Voldemort's doorstep with Neville, Ginny, and Draco. Lucius helps present them, then suggests they take the tour, while Voldemort chats with Harry. Snape agrees to guide as well. Harry's left alone to chat with the Dark Lord.

Now Voldemort's been happy as a clam this whole time. Muggles under his rule, and a large family of wizard children calling him Father. But Harry, you look troubled.

"I'm sorry, sir. I've been...I've been thinking about the first time around. And I was wondering. Do you ever feel remorse?"

While Voldemort tries to puzzle through this topic of conversation, Draco, Neville, and Ginny are looking for the snake while pretending to take a tour. Finally Snape spots Nagini slithering by, and the squad is on it. Stabbitty, stab, stab! Snake's dead.

A signal is fired, the Order attacks and chaos ensues. Lucius and Snape don Death Eater masks to try to take out Voldemort's agents at Riddle House without endangering the children. The horcrux squad focuses on rescuing Muggles, making good use of Hermione's invisibility cloak, while the Order tries to take the fight down to the village.

Voldemort hears the ruckus and throws open the window. He understand immediately that Harry has betrayed him. Without a thought, he fires a killing curse and goes to defend his children.

Now, Harry's dead. But not quite. A bright light yes, but now he's in a train station. King's Cross perhaps? And there's a ghastly thing crying under the bench. And someone coming to greet him. But not Albus Dumbeldore. This Harry barely knew him and needs no answers. No, instead what he's always needed and wanted was a mother to love him, and it's his mother he sees. His real mother, Lily. She hugs him and sooths him and sits with him.

"Am I dead?" Harry asks her.

She strokes and ruffles his hair. "Only if you want to be, my dear boy."

"Oh well, I don't want to be."

She kisses his forehead and lets him go. "Live well, Harry."

Harry finds himself back on the cold floor where he had fallen. He picks himself up and looks out the window. Lord Voldemort is storming down towards the gates, firing curses at anyone who's foolish enough not to run away. Without a thought, Harry hurries down after him.

Now, a Gryffindor Harry might call out to the Dark Lord. Announce his survival. Allow a final chance for remorse. But this is a Slytherin Harry, so he walks up silently and fires a killing curse at the Dark Lord's back. Voldemort is quite dead, but just to be sure, Harry fires off a few extra Avada Kedavras and a Crucio and kicks the corpse.

Lucius and Snape have cleared the house of everyone but crying children and their Muggle nannies. They look out the window to see Harry alive and the Dark Lord dead, and Lucius runs out to embrace his boy.

As they realize the Dark Mark has gone, the remaining Death Eaters run away, and everyone but Mad-Eye is happy to let them. The rest of the Order sets about the business of returning the right children to the right parents, and modifying the memory of the Little Hangleton Muggles so they at least can forget this ever happened.

Licinia is returned too, along with her parent's memories of her, and a very large pile of clothes and gifts. Her Muggle parents insist on calling her Abbigail. The Daily Prophet reports the tragic death of Licinia at the hands of the Death Eaters. Lucius prefers not to talk about it. Narcissa sooths him.

The squad shuffles back to Hogwarts for a bit of normalcy and final exams. Half the wizarding world didn't even know a war had been going on, and they're too tired to correct them. Draco no longer cares that Hermione out does him in every subject, Ginny and Neville are just glad to be together, as they should be, and Harry is just glad to be alive. "I told you, you'd survive," Luna says, though in all honesty she hadn't been entirely sure.

Home for the summer! Done with school forever! They've survived seven years at Hogwarts, and so has Professor Snape.

Draco doesn't want a birthday party this year. He wants a wedding, and Narcissa ensures it's the grandest money can buy. She's decided she can do far worse than Hermione for a daughter-in-law, and if Lucius says a word against it, she'll kill him.

Oddly enough, Lucius finds he doesn't mind so much. He's ready for grandchildren.

The wedding is every bit as grand as Narcissa can dream it. Everyone is invited, and everyone comes, even Pansy and Terence, and a bunch of people who never made it into the story. Draco and Hermione are dressed in white and surrounded by flowers. They both say yes, and that is the start of another great adventure.

Harry feels happy for them and a little jealous too. Luna's sitting beside him dressed like a sunflower, and he asks her. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

She cocks her golden head, looks at him with silver eyes and says, "I'll think about it."

**The End**

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End Notes: This style doesn't lend itself to epilogues, which are depressing affairs at any rate. Thank you for reading to the end. Please review with your thoughts. We're considering doing this as a YouTube series (again as homage to Jim Henson's Storyteller series).


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